Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
The Development and Initial Validation of the Trauma-Related Alcohol Use Coping Measure (TRAC)
Antoine Lebeaut, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Maya Zegel, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Lynne Steinberg, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Michael J. Zvolensky, Ph.D.
Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Anka A. Vujanovic, Ph.D.
Trauma and Stress Studies Center Director
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
Objective: Among trauma-exposed populations, there is a tendency to use alcohol to cope (i.e., self-medicate) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. However, there is a relative paucity of self-report measurement strategies to assess PTSD-alcohol associations and no measure currently exists that directly examines drinking behaviors due to the presence of PTSD symptoms. Therefore, the goals of the current study were to develop and validate a measure that assesses the use of alcohol as a mechanism to cope with specific facets of PTSD symptomatology across two independent samples.
Methods: A university-based sample comprised of trauma-exposed students (N = 607; 78.3% female; Mage = 22.3; SD = 5.23) and a nationally representative sample of adults who met criteria for co-occurring probable PTSD-alcohol use disorder (AUD; N = 350; 50.0% female; Mage = 38.38; SD = 10.18) completed self-report, online questionnaire batteries. A 19-item Trauma-Related Alcohol Use Coping (TRAC) measure was developed and validated across both samples.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis was used to support the latent four-factor structure of the TRAC measure and supported an 18-item version of the TRAC measure. Among the university-based sample, the four-factor model demonstrated excellent fit: 𝜒2(129, N = 607) = 298.28, p < .001; RMSEA = .046, 90% CI (.04, .05); SRMR = .042; CFI = .96; TLI = .95. A similar fit was revealed in the nationally representative sample of adults with probable PTSD-AUD. Moreover, the TRAC measure demonstrated excellent construct validity across both samples, including internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity with well-established measures of mental health.
Conclusions: Overall, the TRAC measure can be used to assess drinking behaviors due to PTSD symptoms across various populations and offers either a single total score or four, separate subscale scores that correspond with PTSD symptom clusters. It is an informative and easily disseminated measure that can help clinicians understand and identify drinking behaviors associated with specific PTSD symptomatology. The TRAC measure may also provide researchers with a more nuanced approach to disentangling PTSD-alcohol relations. Nonetheless, future research is needed to examine the validity of the TRAC measure in other samples.
