The purpose in life scale: Psychometric properties for social drinkers and drinkers in alcohol treatment

The aim of the present research was to further investigate (a) the structure of the Purpose in Life test (PIL) using confirmatory factor analytic techniques,(b) the reliability of PIL scores, and (c) the validity of the PIL. Participants were 357 social drinkers (not in alcohol treatment) and 137 treatment drinkers (in alcohol treatment). With the exclusion of 3 items, a unidimensional measurement model for the PIL provided an adequate fit for social and treatment drinkers. Model invariance analysis indicated that 6 of 17 PIL items had different pattern coefficients for the two groups of drinkers. The 17 items of the PIL demonstrated good measurement reliability for both groups of drinkers and good criterion-related validity.