Psychometric properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test in psychiatric outpatients

Individuals with a severe mental illness frequently have substance abuse and dependence problems, placing them at increased risk for poor treatment outcome. However, the reliability and validity of self-report measures assessing substance abuse and dependence remains understudied in this population. This investigation evaluates 2 versions of the Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST; H. Skinner, 1982) as screening tools for an outpatient psychiatric sample. Participants were 73 men and 24 women who had been receiving treatment at a public psychiatric facility All participants completed the DAST along with other measures of substance use and psychiatric status. The DAST demonstrated adequate internal consistency and temporal stability in this sample. Factor analysis supports a multidimensional scale. We evaluated criterion-related, concurrent and discriminant evidence for validity, and we have concluded that both tested versions of the DAST have sound psychometric properties when used with psychiatric outpatients.