Instruments related to drug use in adolescents: An integrated review

Abstract

Objective: to identify validated instruments and related to drug use among adolescents. Method: an integrative review that included studies on elaborating and validating or evaluating the psychometric properties of instruments for analysing drug use by adolescents in Portuguese, English and Spanish. The search was performed in the following databases: MEDLINE, LILACS, SCOPUS, CINAHL, COCHRANE and Web of Science. For this, the descriptors “Validation Studies”, “Validation studies as subject”, “adolescent” and “disorders related to the use of psychoactive substances” were crossed, resulting in 743 articles retrieved, with a total of 11 composing this review after the selection process and analysis of methodological rigor were performed. The data collection was performed using a validated instrument and the results were categorized based on the objectives of the tests. Results: ten instruments were identified: five questionnaires, one inventory and four scales. The instruments addressed the risk, use/abuse of psychoactive substances and treatment issues. Two showed greater reliability: ASTEQ-COUNSELOR and the DCI-A-SF. Conclusion: information on ten validated instruments was summarized focused on adolescent drug use. These instruments enable measuring and identifying drug use and treatment-related aspects for problems arising from using these substances. Two instruments were considered to be the most reliable because they presented better alpha values for the items individually and together; the ASTEQ-COUNSELOR and the DCI-A-SF. The availability of reliable measurement instruments assists nursing research and praxis.