The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD)

Abstract

The psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD) instrument were evaluated in two adolescent groups. The participants in the Normal group comprised 121 adolescents aged 15–17 years and the participants in the group of adolescents with antisocial problems comprised 1168 youths aged 10–21 years detained under the Swedish Care of Young Persons Act in special youth homes. The ADAD instrument produced good interrater reliability; the subscales showed moderate internal consistency and concept validity was satisfactory and comparable with American and Swiss versions. Finally, the ADAD subscales produced meaningful correlations. The interviewer rating, the adolescent's rating and the composite scores are compared and discussed. The Swedish version of ADAD appears to be a psychometrically good instrument for assessing the severity of adolescent problems and their need for treatment. However, the composite scores need to be reconstructed to be useful in future research.