Is there a good or bad score?

There are no official cutoffs. Higher scores mean more confidence. The patient's lowest group of situations shows where they may need the most support.

The patient wants to cut down, not stop. Is the AASE right for them?

The AASE asks about confidence not to drink at all, so it fits best if the patient's goal is abstinence.

Are the patient's answers stored?

No. The patient's answers are processed only in their browser and are not sent or saved anywhere.

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AASE

Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale

A questionnaire on how confident a patient is that they can stay away from alcohol in 20 situations that can lead to drinking.

Category: Alcohol & drugs
Who fills it in: Self-report
Items: 20
Recall period: Past week

On this page

Administer the scale

0 of 20 completed

Record the patient's response to every item. Entries stay in your browser and are never sent anywhere.

Listed below are a number of situations that lead some people to use alcohol. We would like to know how confident you are that you would not drink alcohol in each situation. Choose the answer that best describes your feelings of confidence not to drink alcohol in each situation during the past week.

1. When I am in agony because of stopping or withdrawing from alcohol use.
When I am in agony because of stopping or withdrawing from alcohol use.
Not at all confidentNot very confidentModerately confidentVery confidentExtremely confident

Question 1 of 20

What it measures

The AASE measures the patient's confidence that they would not drink in 20 high-risk situations, rated from 1 (not at all confident) to 5 (extremely confident). The result is an average from 1 to 5, overall and for four groups of situations: negative feelings, social and positive situations, physical and other concerns, and cravings and urges. Higher scores mean more confidence.

When to use it

The AASE is meant for people whose goal is not to drink, for example during or after treatment. It can show which kinds of situations feel most risky for the patient, which can be a useful starting point for planning how to cope with them, for example together with a therapist.

Origin

The AASE was developed by Carlo C. DiClemente, Joseph P. Carbonari, R. P. G. Montgomery and Sheryl O. Hughes and published in 1994 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol. It is based on Albert Bandura's concept of self-efficacy. A parallel version with the same 20 situations measures how tempted a person feels to drink in each one.

Validation

The AASE was developed with 266 people (174 men and 92 women) attending an outpatient alcohol treatment clinic. It showed a solid structure with four subscales and strong reliability and validity, and no substantive differences between women and men. In a German study with 169 patients after outpatient or inpatient alcohol treatment, people who stayed abstinent had higher AASE scores.

Limitations

The AASE is not a diagnosis and does not measure how much someone drinks. It is designed for an abstinence goal, so it is less suitable for people who want to cut down rather than stop. There are no official cutoffs: the score shows relative confidence, not whether a risk is high or low. It asks about the past week and relies on self-report. There is no validated German version, which is why it is only available in English here.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a good or bad score?: There are no official cutoffs. Higher scores mean more confidence. The patient's lowest group of situations shows where they may need the most support.
The patient wants to cut down, not stop. Is the AASE right for them?: The AASE asks about confidence not to drink at all, so it fits best if the patient's goal is abstinence.
Are the patient's answers stored?: No. The patient's answers are processed only in their browser and are not sent or saved anywhere.

References

DiClemente CC, Carbonari JP, Montgomery RPG, Hughes SO. The Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale. J Stud Alcohol. 1994;55(2):141-148.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. TIP 35: Enhancing Motivation for Change in Substance Use Disorder Treatment. Appendix B, Instrument 13: Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale (AASES).
HABITS Lab, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Self-Efficacy Scales Scoring.
Zingg C, Schmidt P, Küfner H, Kolb W, Zemlin U, Soyka M. [The relationship between self-efficacy and abstinence from alcohol after outpatient and inpatient treatment – a two year follow-up]. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol. 2009 (article in German). PMID: 18792880

Licence & attribution

DiClemente, C.C., Carbonari, J.P., Montgomery, R.P.G., & Hughes, S.O. (1994). The Alcohol Abstinence Self-Efficacy Scale. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 55(2), 141-148.

Public domain; available at no cost (SAMHSA TIP 35; HABITS Lab, UMBC).