Validation of the CAST, a general population Cannabis Abuse Screening Test

Abstract

Background: Although the use of cannabis among young people has become a major public health concern, there is no such test in France for general population surveys.Objective: This article aims to present a short screening test for cannabis abuse among adolescents and young adults in general population surveys, the CAST (Cannabis Abuse Screening Test) designed at the French Monitoring Center for Drug and Drug addictions (OFDT).Methods: The survey was conducted in France among 1728 scholars aged 14–22, in secondary schools, high schools, and university. After presenting internal consistency and factorial structure, the authors compared the CAST with the part of the POSIT (Problem‐Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers) dealing with alcohol and drug abuse among cannabis users in order to validate the optimal thresholds of the CAST for the high risk of abuse defined for the POSIT.Results: The CAST appears to be unidimensional and have high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha equals 0.81). Among cannabis users whoa are low alcohol consumers, CAST presents very high sensitivity and specificity compared with the POSIT (respectively, 93 and 81%).Conclusions: The CAST seems to be an efficient tool in order to screen for cannabis use disorders among adolescents and young adults. Further research is needed to confirm this result.