Development and Validation of the Alcohol and Other Drug Identification (AODI) Scale

Social workers and other helping professionals often have difficulty addressing client alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of potential barriers social workers might experience in discussing AOD use with clients. A pool of 29 items was generated, pilot tested, and given to social work students, and to home visitors (n = 219). Exploratory factor analysis using a rotated component matrix found 14 items clustering in three factors: attitudes, worker/client relationship skills, and knowledge. All factors had acceptable internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis on a larger sample is needed for further validation.