Assessment of Substance Abuse among Teenagers:Review of Instruments Commonly Used in Healthcare and Research

Effective and structured appraisal of substance abuse among teenagers is crucial for clinical research, planning of therapeutic and preventive measures, and provision of referral services. Despite advances in methodology and instrumentation, the assessment of adolescent substance abuse remains a complex clinical and practical process. It requires the careful and skillful application of measures across a wide range of service systems and providers such as school and clinical settings. In this article authors discuss the commonly used formalized assessment instruments for substance abuse among teenagers. There are plenty of substance abuse related assessment tools are available in the western literature. However, no published studies from India reported any standardized instruments on substance abuse among adolescents. This warrants a need for developing culturally sensitive measures on substance abuse among adolescents in India considering the extensive problem of substance abuse among teen population.