Screening for risk factors for adolescent alcohol and drug use

While alcohol and drug abuse are widely prevalent among adolescents, screening for drug and alcohol use, abuse, and risk factors is not a routine practice in primary care pediatrics. This article presents data from a pilot investigation of an instrument for in-office screening of alcohol and drug use and abuse problems. A 42-item questionnaire was administered to two patient populations: 97 youths from a drug abuse treatment program and 206 youths from a private pediatric practice. The questionnaire successfully discriminated between the two samples and appears capable of discriminating drug and alcohol risk within the samples. This research suggests that a simple paper-and-pencil questionnaire can successfully discriminate the degree of risk of substance abuse in adolescent patient populations and that such an instrument can be successfully integrated into the routine activities of pediatric practice.