Abstract

It is important to identify substance use disorders among youth who enter the juvenile justice system using a validated screener, such as the Texas Christian University Drug Screen 5 (TCU DS 5), so that necessary services can be provided to youth in need of treatment. While the TCU DS 5 is a valid, evidence-based screener, the use of an Item Response Theory model may better differentiate between mild, moderate, and severe forms of substance use disorders. The current study analyzed the feasibility and incremental value gained in using an Item Response Theory model to compute drug use severity scores as compared to its current scoring methodology. Results showed that while Item Response Theory may not be worthwhile as the standard method of scoring, item level analyses revealed there are benefits to using Item Response Theory to determine which items on a screener are most suggestive of severe substance use problems.

摘要

使用经过验证的筛查程序（例如德克萨斯基督教大学药物筛查 5 (TCU DS 5)）来识别进入少年司法系统的青少年中的药物滥用障碍非常重要，以便为需要治疗的青少年提供必要的服务。虽然 TCU DS 5 是一种有效的循证筛查方法，但使用项目反应理论模型可以更好地区分轻度、中度和重度物质使用障碍。当前的研究分析了使用项目反应理论模型计算药物使用严重程度分数与其当前评分方法相比的可行性和增量价值。结果表明，虽然项目反应理论可能不值得作为标准评分方法，