Alcohol pattern test for adolescents

Abstract

The Alcohol Pattern Test for Adolescents (APT-A) was constructed to discriminate between adolescents who have problems with substance use (problem group) and adolescents who either do not have problems with substance use or do not use substances at all (no problem group). The APT-A is to be utilized as a screening device to assist in the identification of possible problem substance users and to facilitate the development of individualized treatment plans. The usefulness of this instrument will be found in the accuracy of its assignment of individuals to either the problem or no problem group. The specific population explored for the current study was high school students. The APT-A is a 51 item, six scale, self-report questionnaire that was designed specifically to assess possible adolescent problem substance use from affective, cognitive, physical, familial and social perspectives. The APT-A was administered, in three separate studies, to a multiracial sample of adolescents (999) ranging in age from 13-19. There was a significant difference between the problem substance group and the no problem substance group across all three studies. Cutoff scores were developed for clinicians to assist in assessing possible adolescent problem substance use. The classification accuracy for the total test score cutoff averaged 93.78% for the problem substance use group and 78.64% for the no problem group across two cross validation studies. The internal consistency reliability averaged .897 across three studies. The utilization and the limitations of the APT-A were explored.