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Screening Tools for Substance Abuse in Teens

Teen drug and alcohol abuse is a significant national concern. The effects of substance abuse on teens are wide ranging, including physical health problems, social and educational difficulties and even death. For this reason, many parents, schools and organizations want to find effective tools to determine the level of the problem in a particular child.

  1. Printed Quiz

    • Although you might expect that the process of finding out about a teen's substance abuse would always be very difficult, this is not always the case. Surprisingly, a simple bubble sheet quiz that asks the teen basic questions about his or her substance abuse can often yield honest and revealing answers. For example, the sheet might ask, "Have you used alcohol or other drugs?" "Have you experienced blackouts or other periods of memory loss?" or "Has drinking or other drug use caused problems between you and your family or friends?"

    CRAFFT

    • The CRAFFT screening tool involves a series of verbal questions posed to the teen. The name CRAFFT is a mnemonic device used by the questioner, with each letter representing one of the questions. For example, the first question is for the letter C, "Have you ever ridden in a CAR driven by someone (including yourself) who was 'high' or had been using alcohol or drugs?" Should a teen answer yes to any of the first three questions, you continue on to the other three. If the teen answers yes to three or more, further evaluation is called for.

    Interview and Evaluation

    • Once questions seem to have identified a problem, the next step is for a more extensive interview to be conducted. This should be done by a trained professional with experience in this area. The interviewer examines the details of the substance abuse and the effect it is having. It is important at this stage for the interviewer to reassure the teen so that he or she will open up about the problem and speak frankly.

    Medical Tests

    • If the teen proves uncooperative, but there are clear physical indications or other evidence that he or she is in fact abusing drugs or alcohol, it may be necessary to conduct chemical tests to confirm the problem. There are commercial companies across the country that provide this service by testing a subject's urine for various substances.

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