Substance abuse and associated psychosocial risk factors among Turkish male adolescents

Abstract

This study reports the validation of the Drug Use Screening Inventory (DUSI) in a sample of Turkish youth. Clinical cases ( N=90) were recruited from the inpatient and outpatient addictions treatment facility at Bakirkoy State Hospital for Psychiatric and Neurological Diseases in Istanbul, Turkey. Nonclinical cases ( N=68) were recruited from the community by direct invitation from the researchers and advertisement. Reliability, discriminative, and construct validity of the Turkish version of the DUSI were documented. A cut-off score of 35% severity on the overall problem density score correctly classified 83% of subjects with sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 87%. Furthermore, the DUSI overall problem density score predicted prior 30 days level of substance use involvement. Finally, a history of family substance use disorder predicted the overall problem density score in their children. These findings indicate that the Turkish version of the DUSI is an efficient method for multidimensional screening of youth who need treatment for substance abuse.