Overview
Developed by Myers and Brown (1996) this is a 34-item self-report measure to evaluate adolescent skills for coping with temptations to use alcohol and/or other drugs. Its purpose is to assess adolescent substance user coping skills, and evaluate changes in coping skills over the course of treatment for adolescent substance use.
The questionnaire introduces a hypothetical situation "you arrive at a friend's house in the evening. There are a few other people; everyone is sitting around talking, drinking, and using drugs. When you sit down, you are offered drugs and something to drink." The questionnaire consisted of two parts: The first, assesses how the YP responds to this hypothetical situation using a 10 points scale in six items and the second, evaluates the relapse coping strategies in seven points with 28 items.
Psychometric properties
| Property | Definition | ARCQ |
| Reliability | Degree to which respondents in a similar sample had similar scores | Reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient as 0.84 (cited in Shafiei E, Hoseini AF, Parsaeian F, Heidarinejad A, Azmal M. Relapse coping strategies in young adults addicts: a quantitative study in Iran. Indian J Psychol Med 2016;38:46-9) |
| Internal consistency | The degree to which similar items within a scale correlate with each other | 3 coping factors showed good internal consistency (Myers & Brown, 1996) |
| Concurrent validity | Correlation of the measure with others measuring same concept | Abstinence-oriented coping factor was significantly correlated with current alcohol and drug use and measures of situation appraisal, and significantly predicted alcohol and drug use during the year following assessment. (Myers & Brown, 1996) |
Suitability
Adolescents using drugs and alcohol.
Translation
Available in English
Administration
The measure is completed by the young person and usually takes less than 15 minutes.
Scoring and interpretation
Coping items are divided into 3 scales, scale scores are obtained by summing item scores. Scoring takes approximately 5 minutes and requires no special training.
Terms of use
Available free upon request from author.
Further information
For further information about the ARCQ please contact:
Prof Mark Myers
University of California, San Diego, USA
Psychology 116B, VASDHS, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, California 92161 USA
E-mail: mgmyers@ucsd.edu
References:
Myers MG, Brown SA. Coping responses and relapse among adolescent substance abusers. Journal of Substance Abuse 1990;2:177-189.
Myers, M.G., & Brown, S.A. (1996). The Adolescent Relapse Coping Questionnaire: Psychometric validation. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 57, 40-46