Utility of the B-YAACQ to identify at-risk college drinkers: ROC analyses across seven countries

ORTIZ CASO, I; DUNAIEF, R. J.; PILATTI, A; BRAVO, A. J; CROSS-CULTURAL ADDICTIONS STUDY TEAM

Conferencia; 11th Annual Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction Conference; 2023

The present study examined the utility of the B-YAACQ to distinguish among students at-risk for problematic alcohol use. A sample of 6382 students (mean age=20.28, SD=3.75, 72.2% females) from seven countries (i.e., U.S., Canada, South-Africa, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, England) completed the B-YAACQ, the AUDIT and different measures or alcohol use. ROC analysis suggested that the cut-off score of 5 maximized the YAACQ’s discrimination utility to differentiate between students at low versus moderate/high risk in the total sample and across countries (except in Canada, where the cut-off was 4). In addition, a cut-off of 7 differentiated between students at low/moderate versus high risk in the total sample, while cut-offs of 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7 differentiate between students at low/moderate versus high risk in Uruguay, U.S and Spain, Argentina, England, and Canada and South-Africa, respectively. Students classified at the three risk levels (i.e., low, moderate and high) differed in age (i.e., a younger age was associated with higher risk) and drinking patters (i.e., higher drinking frequency, quantity, binge drinking and AUDIT and B-YAACQ scores in the higher risk groups). This study suggest that the B-YAACQ is a useful tool to identify college students at-risk for experiencing problematic patterns of alcohol use.