NCJ Number
166455
Editor(s)
B J Rounsaville,
F M Tims,
A M Horton Jr,
B J Sowder
Date Published
1996
Length
130 pages
Annotation
This publication has been compiled to help substance abuse treatment personnel and researchers attain comparability in coverage and reporting of clinical and research investigations of substance abusers.
Abstract
Chapters have been written to provide the reader with a relatively brief list of recommended instruments or measures for use in evaluating six areas: (1) demographic characteristics, employment history, and legal history; (2) alcohol and drug use history; (3) medical history and medical consequences of substance abuse; (4) psychiatric diagnosis; (5) family functioning; and (6) social adjustment and social supports. The publication is a practical guide to help clinicians and investigators choose measurement techniques that are most likely to answer their research questions and to have utility in a given research setting. The use of comparable measures should facilitate the conduct of related studies that systematically evaluate the effectiveness of particular treatment techniques. Comparable measures are also essential to spot temporal trends. Key factors causing variability in the substance abuse field over time include changes in drug availability, drug-using populations, and drug use rates. Each recommended instrument is described in terms of its salient features, and information is provided on how to obtain the most recent version. Guidelines for using instruments recommended in the publication are offered, specific considerations in the evaluation of substance abusers are discussed, and data collection forms are appended. References, tables, and exhibits