Measuring What Happens When Bystanders Help in Drinking Situations: The Bystanders to Alcohol Risk Scales-Positive and Negative Consequences

Objective: Understanding the consequences that occur when bystanders intervene to address problematic alcohol use in others is of utmost importance because the consequences that bystanders experience can influence their behavior in future situations. Consequences are defined as the effects of attempting to help another person and may be positive and/or negative. Given the dearth of measurement scales for alcohol-related bystander intervention, the present study aimed to develop two valid and reliable measures of consequences following alcohol-related bystander intervention: one assessing positive consequences and one assessing negative consequences. Method: Young adults (N = 1,011; 51.2% men) participated in an online survey containing bystander consequence items. A subset of participants (n = 345) completed a 2-week follow-up to evaluate test-retest reliability. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory were used to examine model fit and reduce the number of items. Correlations with established measures were used to evaluate validity. Results: One-factor solutions demonstrated the best fit for both measures. Both measures demonstrated strong internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and evidence of convergent validity. Conclusions: The newly developed Bystanders to Alcohol Risk Scale-Positive Consequence and Bystanders to Alcohol Risk Scale-Negative Consequence are valid and reliable measures of the consequence bystanders experience when they intervene during alcohol-related situations. These measures might be used for surveillance of consequences among bystanders or as a measure of outcomes following bystander intervention training.