Usefulness and validity of the modified Addiction Severity Index: A focus on alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and gambling.

BACKGROUND: Individuals who seek treatment for an addictive disorder often exhibit comorbid substance use disorders and/or gambling disorder. The lack of a unique severity assessment instrument might be an obstacle for individuals to access integrated and comprehensive treatment. This paper aimed to examine the usefulness and validity of a modified version of the Addiction Severity Index (mASI) to assess all substance use disorders (including tobacco) and gambling. METHODS: Participants (N = 833) were interviewed with the mASI and completed a validity battery questionnaire. The validity and the reliability of the mASI were examined. RESULTS: The mASI was reliable, and its 9 assessed domains showed a relative independence, supporting its multidimensionality. CONCLUSIONS: The standardized properties of the mASI permit a comprehensive and systematic assessment of all addictive disorders independent of individuals' perceived problems and treatment settings, hence facilitating personalized treatment planning.

Association between morningness/eveningness, addiction severity and psychiatric disorders among individuals with addictions.

Studies have shown that Evening-Type (ET) subjects used more stimulating and sedative substances, and presented more psychiatric disorders than Morning-Type (MT) subject. However, there is a lack of data on the chronotype of patients with addiction. The aim of our study was to describe chronotype and associated factors in a sample of outpatients beginning treatment for addiction. Subjects were assessed with the Morningness-Eveningness questionnaire of Hörne & Ostberg, the Addiction Severity Index and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. In the 333 subjects with an addiction, 20% were MT and 32% were ET. When comparing ET to MT, multivariate analysis showed that ET was significantly associated with poly-problematic addiction, non-substance addictions, cannabis addiction, and mood disorders, but not with severity of addiction. MT was associated with antisocial personality disorder. Results suggested that chronotype was associated with specific addiction pattern and psychiatric disorders.

Validity of the self-reported drug use section of the Addiction Severity Index and associated factors used under naturalistic conditions.

The study examined the validity of 1848 self-reported uses of drugs determined within an Addiction Severity Index interview in comparison with urinalysis results among drug-dependent subjects undergoing treatment in outpatient clinics (Aquitaine area, southwest France, 1994-2005). Agreement and kappa statistics were calculated for each substance. Factors associated with agreement were defined using a multivariate analysis. The conditional kappa coefficients were excellent for all substances assessed. The accuracy between self-reports and urinalysis results was influenced by factors that only slightly affected conditional kappa coefficients. Clients did not underreport their substance use in naturalistic clinical assessment conditions.