The Practical Adolescent Diagnostic Interview (PADDI), a structured diagnostic interview designed to gather basic information about substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and related experiences, was used in routine evaluation of all adolescents committed to two juvenile detention centers. Anonymous data from 252 consecutively admitted adolescents were analyzed to assess the prevalence and severity of problem areas and to provide a preliminary exploration of interrelationships among those problems. Results demonstrated that a majority of adolescents manifested multiple problems. Whereas prevalence rates were high across gender, females displayed significantly greater mental health problems and maltreatment histories.

A structured diagnostic interview (Practical Adolescent Dual Diagnostic Interview, or PADDI) designed to gather basic information about substance use disorders, other mental health conditions, and related experiences was administered to 284 adolescents in several juvenile justice settings. PADDI data were analyzed to assess the ability of the questions to identify mental health and substance use problems and to provide a preliminary exploration of interrelationships between those conditions. Results indicated that PADDI subscales possess adequate to excellent internal consistency reliability, with coefficients ranging from .624 to more than .900. A vast majority of delinquent adolescents manifested indications of multiple problems. Although there were high correlations among some conditions with respect to severity, conduct disorder and substance dependence did not correlate highly on measurements of severity. Furthermore, although most conditions displayed bimodal distributions, conduct disorder displayed a continuous distribution of symptoms. Utility of the instrument for routine clinical use is also discussed.

No abstract