The Authors’ Own Words: We ask authors to describe their impressions regarding the implications of their accepted work, how their findings will change practice, and what is noteworthy about the work.
Sharon M. Kelly, PhD; Kevin E. O’Grady, PhD; Jan Gryczynski, PhD; Shannon Gwin Mitchell, PhD; Arethusa Kirk, MD; & Robert P. Schwartz, MD
Substance Abuse Vol. 38, Iss. 4, 2017
“Adolescents are a high-risk group for health consequences related to substance use, so it is important to identify as many adolescents as possible with risky substance use. However, only about half of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) screen adolescents as recommended. Moreover, rates of alcohol and cannabis use disorder found in the current study were considerably higher than national rates among adolescents, further emphasizing the need for routine screening in FQHCs. This study provides novel findings on the POSIT’s substance use/abuse standard subscale and a shorter, revised subscale in a FQHC using DSM-5 criteria. Our findings suggest that both versions of the POSIT’s subscales (17- and 11-item subscales) are reliable and valid for screening adolescents for potential substance use problems. In light of studies citing time constraints and lack of standardized assessments as barriers to screening adolescents for substance use, these POSIT subscales could be considered for use in busy FQHCs or other medical practices along with other validated measures such as the CRAFFT. Although the POSIT would take longer to administer than the CRAFFT, it contains items that may provide more detailed information to guide the clinical discussion.”
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