Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 25, Issue 1, January–February 2000, Pages 57-70
Addictive Behaviors

Development of the drug abuse screening test for adolescents (Dast-a)

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4603(99)00030-1Get rights and content
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Abstract

The development and initial validation of the Drug Abuse Screening Test for Adolescents (DAST-A) is summarized. The DAST-A, derived from a modification of the original adult version called the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST; Skinner, 1982), was psychometrically tested in a study group of adolescent inpatients. The DAST-A demonstrated good internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, unidimensional factor structure, and good concurrent validity. Using the classification system of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association 1994), DAST-A scores of greater than 6 yielded sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive powers of 78.6%, 84.5%, and 82.3%, respectively, in differentiating adolescent psychiatric inpatients with and without drug-related disorders. These findings suggest that the DAST-A holds promise as a drug abuse screening measure in psychiatrically impaired adolescent populations.

Keywords

Adolescents
Substance abuse
Screening

Cited by (0)

The authors thank Martha Walker for her assistance with data collection and analysis.