Predictive validity of the SOCRATES in a clinical sample of Latina/o adolescents

The Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES) is a widely used measure of a client's motivation to change their substance use behavior. It is comprised of 3 subscales, recognition, ambivalence, and taking steps, which correspond to one's awareness, uncertainty, and behavior relative to their substance use. Typically the measure has been examined in adult treatment samples, whereas less attention has been paid to its use with adolescents, especially racial/ethnic minority youth. The purpose of the current study was to test the predictive validity of the SOCRATES subscales on posttreatment substance use levels with a clinical sample of Latina/o adolescents (N = 105) in substance use treatment. Hypotheses were tested via generalized linear models for each of the 3 subscales. Results indicated that higher scores on the Taking Steps subscale of the SOCRATES at pretreatment were predictive of lower days of substance use after treatment for adolescents in the sample. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).