Abstract
The concurrent and predictive validity of the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD) in the Psychological status and problem area was examined for two adolescent groups: a non-clinical population of 121 Swedish adolescents (62 girls and 59 boys) aged 15 to17 years and a clinical population of 31 adolescents (14 girls and 17 boys) aged 12 to 19 years detained in special youth homes. Concurrent validity was demonstrated by significant correlations between the ADAD, Youth Self Report (YSR) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Findings regarding the predictive validity of ADAD show moderate associations with YSR, BDI and DICA problem ratings. The findings suggest that for clinical practice the ADAD Psychological status and problem area may be an appropriate assessment tool for measurement of cur-rent psychological problems. The utility obtained by making decisions using the test is substantial.
Highlights
The combination of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety and substance abuse is common in the group of adolescents with antisocial behavior problems [1]
It was found that the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD) problem areas seem to be most useful as prognostic indicators of treatment outcome for adolescents with antisocial problems who are under 18 years of age. These results suggest that drug abuse treatment planning should focus on altering the predisposing factors that exist in these domains for example the adolescent having drug-using friends with deviant behavior, the adolescent’s own antisocial behavior and engagement in illegal activities, low bonding to the family, conflicting behavior towards parents, and low levels of support from the parents
It is important to find out which types of information about adolescent mental health problems are revealed by the different measures in the Psychological status and problem area, and whether it is possible to predict future mental health behavior based on these subscores
Summary
The combination of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety and substance abuse is common in the group of adolescents with antisocial behavior problems [1]. In the light of this prevalence of the need for treatment, it seems important to have valid instruments that can assess an adolescent’s state of health and contribute to an appropriate focus of the treatment, especially when dual diagnoses are available. The Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD) interview [4] is one of the instruments that have been used for screening for mental health problems in adolescents with antisocial behavior problems. Besides investigating the adolescent’s psychological health status, the ADAD interview evaluates problems in eight life areas, namely medical, school, employment, social, family, legal, alcohol and drugs. Problems in these areas are thought to be related to substance use problems in adolescence. The CI is utilized in calculating the CS, but other items are included because they yield clinically useful information for ongoing treatment planning [7]
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