NCJ Number
188434
Date Published
1999
Length
161 pages
Annotation
This manual presents information on identifying, screening, and assessing adolescents who use substances.
Abstract
The manual advises that a substance-abuse screening and assessment protocol for adolescents should differ from that for adults, because adolescents differ from adults both physiologically and emotionally. Substance abuse can seriously impair development, leaving an adolescent unprepared for the demands of adulthood. The manual focuses on current procedures and instruments for detecting substance abuse among adolescents, procedures for conducting comprehensive assessments, and how to begin treatment planning. The first chapter provides an overview of the document, followed by two chapters that present appropriate strategies and guidelines for screening and assessment. An explanation of legal issues that pertain to Federal and State confidentiality laws is provided in the next chapter. The concluding chapter contains guidelines for screening and assessing adolescents in juvenile justice settings. One appendix provides summary descriptions of instruments for screening and assessing adolescents for substance abuse and general functioning domains, many of them updated since 1993. Another appendix excerpts a 1998 publication on drug testing juvenile detainees. 119-item bibliography