The Definition and Measurement of Alcoholism. H-Technique Scales of Preoccupation with Alcohol and Psychological Involvement

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Abstract
Some of the problems met by researchers in attempting to use the majority of current definitions of alcoholism have been discussed. Two H-technique scales, based on the Jellinek drinking history, have been described - a scale of preoccupation with alcohol and a scale of psychological involvement. It was shown that these scales have a similar reproducibility when tested on two samples; and that on both tests the two scales were correlated (r - .61). The two scales are moderately associated with the degrees of social isolation, deteriorated social relationships and with the number of social penalties experienced. Scale types of the scale of preoccupation with alcohol are associated with "nervous breakdowns," and number of hospitalizations for physical illness not directly related to alcoholism. These associations suggest the scales measure the extent of alcoholism. Methodological problems are discussed, particularly the problems of reliability of the items and the scales. Further research is needed on these points.

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