Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

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Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Co-Morbidities Among Teens in Treatment: SASSI-A3 Correlations in Screening Scores

Received: 14 December 2020    Accepted: 06 January 2021    Published: 15 January 2021
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Abstract

This article presents an overview of a study investigating the co-occurrence of teen mental health and substance use disorders. These co-morbidities have proven problematic and difficult to treat and/or identify in this population. The data for this study was collected as part of The SASSI Institute’s third iteration of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI-A3). A total of 515 teenagers in treatment, whose cases consisted of a valid and complete SASSI-A3, DSM-5 diagnostic evaluation, and client demographics, served as the dataset for the present study. Specifically, we focused on the frequencies of mental health diagnoses alongside a DSM-5 diagnosis of substance use disorder for teens who were seeking treatment for substance misuse issues. All participant cases were provided by clinicians working in service settings throughout the U.S. Census Regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, West). These professionals served in a variety of venues including substance use treatment and criminal justice programs, community corrections, private clinical practices, behavioral health centers, and social service organizations. All clinicians were qualified SASSI users who administered the SASSI-A3 via the SASSI Institute’s SUD web-based screening application. Substance abuse in teens can often be a sign of an attempt to self-medicate an untreated mental health disorder. Identifying possible correlations between SASSI-A3 scale scores and diagnosed mental health disorders, depression and anxiety in particular, can enable clinicians to direct the course of subsequent clinical interviews, and further assessments needed early in the counseling relationship.

DOI 10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12
Published in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (Volume 10, Issue 1, February 2021)
Page(s) 10-17
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Adolescent, Substance Use Disorders, SASSI, Co-occurring SUD-mental Health Disorders

References
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[3] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2018). National Survey of Drug Use and Health.
[4] Wilson, J. J. (2010). Substance abuse during adolescence. In E. V. Nunes, J. Selzer, P. Levounis, and C. A. Davies, (Eds.), Substance dependence and co-occurring psychiatric disorder: Best practices for diagnosis and clinical treatment (pp. 15-1 – 15-22). Civic Research Institute.
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[6] American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
[7] Yule, A. M., and Wilens, T. E. (2015). Substance use disorders in adolescents with psychiatric comorbidity: When to screen and how to treat. Current Psychiatry, 14 (4), 36-39, 47-51.
[8] Lyons, R. M., Yule, A. M., Schiff, D., Bagley, S. M., and Wilens, T. E. (2019). Risk Factors for drug overdose in young people: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Child Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 29 (7), 487-497.
[9] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP19-5068, NSDUH Series H-54).
[10] Tiburcio, N. J., Baker, S. L., and Hanauer, M. (2019). Detecting “faking good” with the adolescent Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-SASSI-A3: A clinical response to alcohol & other drug use minimization among teens. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 38 (3), 356-363.
[11] Tiburcio, N. J., Hanauer, M., and Baker, S. L. (2020). Validation of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3 (SASSI-A3). Journal of Addiction Research & Therapy. 11 (5), 400.
[12] Laux, J. M., Piazza, N. J., Salyers, K., and Roseman, C. P. (2012). The Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory-3 and stages of change: A screening validity study. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling, 33, 82-92.
[13] American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2019). Marijuana and teens.
[14] Lazowski, L. E, and Miller G. A. (2013). The Updated SASSI-A2 User’s Guide. The SASSI Institute.
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[16] Latimer, W. W., Stone, A. L., Voight, A., Winters, K. C., and August, G. J. (2002). Gender differences in psychiatric comorbidity among adolescents with substance use disorders. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 10 (3), 310-315.
[17] Kimmell, K. S. (2020). SASSI Scales: Clinical Feedback. The SASSI Institute.
[18] Tiburcio, N. J., Baker, S. L., and Kimmell, K. S. (2020). The Adolescent SASSI-A3 User Guide and Manual. The SASSI Institute.
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[22] Kuepper, R., Van Os, J., Lieb, R., Wittchen, H., Hofler, M., and Henquet, C. (2011). Continued cannabis use and risk of incidence and persistence of psychotic symptoms: 10 year follow-up cohort study. British Medical Journal, 342, d738.
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Author Information
  • The SASSI Institute, Springville, Indiana, USA

  • The SASSI Institute, Springville, Indiana, USA

  • The SASSI Institute, Springville, Indiana, USA

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  • APA Style

    Nelson Jose Tiburcio, Scarlett Lynn Baker, Kristin Sue Kimmell. (2021). Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Co-Morbidities Among Teens in Treatment: SASSI-A3 Correlations in Screening Scores. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 10(1), 10-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12

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    ACS Style

    Nelson Jose Tiburcio; Scarlett Lynn Baker; Kristin Sue Kimmell. Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Co-Morbidities Among Teens in Treatment: SASSI-A3 Correlations in Screening Scores. Psychol. Behav. Sci. 2021, 10(1), 10-17. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12

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    AMA Style

    Nelson Jose Tiburcio, Scarlett Lynn Baker, Kristin Sue Kimmell. Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Co-Morbidities Among Teens in Treatment: SASSI-A3 Correlations in Screening Scores. Psychol Behav Sci. 2021;10(1):10-17. doi: 10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12,
      author = {Nelson Jose Tiburcio and Scarlett Lynn Baker and Kristin Sue Kimmell},
      title = {Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Co-Morbidities Among Teens in Treatment: SASSI-A3 Correlations in Screening Scores},
      journal = {Psychology and Behavioral Sciences},
      volume = {10},
      number = {1},
      pages = {10-17},
      doi = {10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.pbs.20211001.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.pbs.20211001.12},
      abstract = {This article presents an overview of a study investigating the co-occurrence of teen mental health and substance use disorders. These co-morbidities have proven problematic and difficult to treat and/or identify in this population. The data for this study was collected as part of The SASSI Institute’s third iteration of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI-A3). A total of 515 teenagers in treatment, whose cases consisted of a valid and complete SASSI-A3, DSM-5 diagnostic evaluation, and client demographics, served as the dataset for the present study. Specifically, we focused on the frequencies of mental health diagnoses alongside a DSM-5 diagnosis of substance use disorder for teens who were seeking treatment for substance misuse issues. All participant cases were provided by clinicians working in service settings throughout the U.S. Census Regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, West). These professionals served in a variety of venues including substance use treatment and criminal justice programs, community corrections, private clinical practices, behavioral health centers, and social service organizations. All clinicians were qualified SASSI users who administered the SASSI-A3 via the SASSI Institute’s SUD web-based screening application. Substance abuse in teens can often be a sign of an attempt to self-medicate an untreated mental health disorder. Identifying possible correlations between SASSI-A3 scale scores and diagnosed mental health disorders, depression and anxiety in particular, can enable clinicians to direct the course of subsequent clinical interviews, and further assessments needed early in the counseling relationship.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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