Outcome measures of interventions in the study of children of substance-abusing parents

Children of substance-abusing parents, including children of alcoholics (COAs), are one of the highest risk groups of youth for substance-abuse problems. For both genetic and family environmental reasons, COAs and children of drug abusers are very vulnerable to becoming alcohol or other drug abusers.1,2 With drug use rates increasing in the past 7 years,3 prevention practitioners must work harder to identify and evaluate effective ways to prevent future substance abuse in these at-risk children. Most prevention programs designed specifically for COAs or children of drug abusers have struggled with identifying, attracting, maintaining, and measuring outcomes. This article focuses on general and unique measurement methods and instrument problems in prevention interventions for children of substance-abusing parents. Part I covers the need for improved measurement in research and practice with children of substance-abusing parents and recommended measures for different hypothesized outcome variables. Part II covers considerations in selecting measures, and Part III covers how to select measures. This article concludes with recommendations to improve measurement in research and practice.