Test‐Retest Reliability of Adolescents’ Self‐Report of Substance Use

Abstract

The CRAFFT screen is a reliable means of screening adolescents for substance abuse, although we recommend using the past-year version. The TLFB is a reliable method of quantifying adolescents' alcohol and cannabis use at intervals of 30, 60, or 90 days.

Computer-Facilitated Substance Use Screening and Brief Advice for Teens in Primary Care: An International Trial

“…Previous studies have shown self-report to be a valid method for measuring substance use among adolescents, however, and it compares favorably with other methods of substance use detection, such as laboratory testing. 14,61,62 Although there was 25% to 30% loss to follow-up in our New England sample, attrition was similar between groups, both in the rates and the profile of those lost to follow-up, and we found that our results did not change after missing data imputation. Finally, we were unable to assess effects on use of drugs other than cannabis because of insufficient numbers.…”

“…Providers today face opposing pressures: recommendations to screen patients for more and more problems, and financial realities that require they see more patients quickly. 14,63,64 Use of a computer-facilitated system such as this one may offer a way to improve both patient care and provider efficiency. a New England logistic models for both 3-and 12-month outcomes adjusted for the multisite sampling design; baseline past-12-month substance use; age; gender; parent education level; type of visit (well visit or other); perceived parent, sibling, and peer substance use; provider gender; and connectedness to provider.…”

“…The baseline assessment began with a past-90-day, modified timeline followback 14,36 interview, separately recording frequency of use of each substance. Participants then self-administered a computerized questionnaire that assessed demographics and perceived substance use by peers, siblings, and parents (scales derived from the validated Personal Experience Inventory 37,38 ).…”

“…11 The CRAFFT is a valid and reliable screener for adolescent medical patients, and is brief enough to be practical for busy medical offices. [12][13][14] "CRAFFT" is a mnemonic acronym formed by the first letters of key words in the test's 6 yes/no questions (Fig 1). Each "yes" scores 1 point; a total score of $2 has a sensitivity of 0.80 and specificity of 0.86 for identifying substance abuse or dependence.…”

Alcohol Use by Youth and Adolescents: A Pediatric Concern

“…62 Test-retest reliability of the CRAFFT has been shown to be high, especially when the questions are prefaced with the phrase "in the past year" when office-based screening is performed. 63 Recently, the CRAFFT tool use was integrated into an adolescent substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral-to-treatment algorithm and tool kit to augment pediatricians' confidence and ability in responding effectively to screening results. 64 More research is still needed to aid in developing brief intervention strategies (ie, short, efficient, office-based techniques) that health care providers who work with adolescents can use to detect and intervene with alcohol misuse.…”