National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.
Addict Behav. 2010 May;35(5):408-13. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.12.001. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Prevalence rates of cannabis abuse and dependence are higher for younger adults when compared with older adults. It is necessary to examine the performance of criteria across age groups to establish whether these differences in prevalence rates are a result of diagnostic bias. The current study aims to investigate whether there is any age-related differential item functioning in the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for cannabis use disorders using an item response theory approach.
The sample consisted of 10,641 participants in a population-based survey of Australian adults aged 18 years and older. DSM-IV cannabis use disorders were assessed in all respondents who had used cannabis more than five times in the previous twelve months (n=722). Age-based differential item functioning was assessed in each of the DSM-IV criteria for cannabis use disorders.
Age-based differential item functioning was only detected in the Hazard criterion of the DSM-IV cannabis use disorders. The Hazard criterion was found to be more discriminating for those aged 18-24 when compared with those aged 25 and over.
The DSM-IV criteria for cannabis use disorders appear to function similarly across age groups. Differential item functioning was only detected in the alpha parameter for the Hazard criterion. These results are discussed with regard to implications for future editions of the DSM system.
与老年人相比，年轻人滥用和依赖大麻的流行率更高。有必要检查不同年龄组的标准表现，以确定这些流行率差异是否是诊断偏差的结果。本研究旨在使用项目反应理论方法调查 DSM-IV 大麻使用障碍诊断标准是否存在与年龄相关的差异功能。
该样本包括在一项针对澳大利亚 18 岁及以上成年人的基于人群的调查中，共有 10641 名参与者。对过去 12 个月中使用大麻超过 5 次的所有受访者（n=722）进行了 DSM-IV 大麻使用障碍评估。在 DSM-IV 大麻使用障碍的每个诊断标准中评估了基于年龄的差异功能。
仅在 DSM-IV 大麻使用障碍的危害标准中检测到基于年龄的差异功能。与 25 岁及以上的人相比，18-24 岁的人发现危害标准更具区分力。
DSM-IV 大麻使用障碍标准似乎在不同年龄组中表现相似。仅在危害标准的 alpha 参数中检测到差异功能。这些结果与 DSM 系统未来版本的影响有关。
