ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4193-1034

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

William F Chaplin

Second Advisor

Wison McDermut

Third Advisor

Imad Zaheer

Abstract

At present, there is no formal theory of barriers to sobriety from alcohol, and subsequently no standardized way to assess such barriers in the population. The goal of the current study was to formalize both a sobriety barriers theory and sobriety barriers measure via psychometric analysis. Researchers designed a sobriety barriers theory based on available literature, generated a multidimensional item-set representing this theory, administered the item-set to a sample of 1,187 respondents (56.4% female), and evaluated the extent to which the structure and contents of the item-set corresponded to the proposed theory using psychometric analysis. Structural analyses revealed a bifactor model with four subcomponents provided the best fit to the data, which resulted in subscale reconfiguration that yielded the following subscales: enhancement barriers, conformity barriers, self-efficacy barriers, and coping barriers. Item-level analyses, consistent with hypotheses, revealed differences in some items’ response patterns across demographic characteristics. Internal consistency and construct validity were established. The final structure of the Sobriety Barriers Scale provided a substantive basis for a unidimensional theory of sobriety barriers with four unique contributing domains: enhancement, conformity, self-efficacy, and coping. The Sobriety Barriers Scale could be used in research and clinical assessment to expand our understanding of barriers to sobriety from alcohol in both population-wide and personalized contexts.

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