Recommended Substance Use Screening and Assessment Tools

The substance use screening tool should be developmentally appropriate, valid, and reliable, and practical for use in a busy medical office. The best screening tools contain the lowest number of succinct validated questions that can elicit accurate and reliable responses. At a minimum, the screening tool combined with clinical judgment and additional assessments as needed should help identify the patient’s frequency of substance use and risk level. Table 2 of the 2016 AAP clinical report for substance use lists adolescent screening and assessment tools to consider:

Source: Levy SH, Williams JF; Committee on Substance Use and Prevention. Substance use screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment. Pediatrics. 2016;138(1):e20161211; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2016-1211. Full report available at: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-1211.