Measuring alcohol-related protective behavioral strategies among college students: Further examination of the protective behavioral strategies scale

Heavy drinking among college students has been recognized as a public health problem on American college campuses (e.g., R. Hingson, T. Heeren, M. Winter, & H. Wechsler, 2005). Recently, protective behavioral strategies, or cognitive-behavioral strategies that can be implemented when using alcohol to reduce consumption and resulting negative consequences, have been shown to be associated with less alcohol use and fewer alcohol-related problems (e.g., S. L. Benton et al., 2004; M. P. Martens et al,, 2005). The purpose of the present study was to conduct additional psychometric work on a measure designed to assess the use of such strategies: the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS; M. P. Martens et al., 2005). Data were collected on 505 undergraduate students from 2 universities who reported having consumed alcohol at least once in the past 30 days. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized 3-factor version of the PBSS, and scores on each subscale were correlated in the expected direction with both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Thus, the PBSS appears to be reliable and valid for use among college student drinkers.