Keywords:

Alcohol Use, Drug Use, Adolescents

Background:

This scale can be used to assess for substance use problems among adolescents (Knight et al., 1999). This scale was validated on a sample of 14 - 18 year old African Americans, Caucasians, and Latinos.

Copyright:

Publisher: Journals of the American Medical Association

Reliability:

Cronbach alpha (whole scale) = 0.79 (Knight et al 1999)

Assessment:

Scale items:

1. Have you ever ridden in a car driven by someone (including yourself) who was high or had been using alcohol?
2. Do you ever use alcohol or drugs to relax, feel better about yourself, or fit in?
3. Do you ever use alcohol or drugs while you are by yourself (alone)?
4. Has anyone (parent, teacher, friend) ever thought you had a problem with alcohol or drugs?
5. Do you ever forget things you did while you were using alcohol or drugs?
6. Have you ever gotten into trouble while you were using alcohol or drugs?
7. Does alcohol or drug use cause your moods to change quickly, from happy to sad or vice versa?
8. Do your family or friends ever tell you that you should cut down on your drinking or drug use?
9. Does your alcohol or drug use ever make you do something that you would not normally do-like breaking rules, missing curfew, breaking the law, or having sex with someone?

USE THE FOLLOWING RESPONSE CATEGORIES.

1. Yes
2. No

References:

• Knight, J.R., Shrier, L.A., Bravender, T.D., Farfell, M., Bilt, J.V., & Schaffer, H.J. (1999). A new brief screen for adolescent substance abuse. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 153, 591-596.

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