MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

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Measurement in Social Work Research: Drug Abuse Screening Test

Kritzia M. Rosas
Wayne State University

SW 4810

Measurement in Social Work Research: Drug Abuse Screening Test

The Drug Abuse Screening Test is a survey used to score whether or not an individual
needs to seek help for drug abuse. The survey is made up of yes or no questions, which the value
of no is 0 and the value of yes is one. With the exception of a few questions, which are specified
on the survey, where the value of no would be scored as 1. This survey is used for many people
throughout the world, including clients who come to the agency where I am doing my field
placement.

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The agency where I am doing my field placement is called New Life. New Life is a
Rehabilitation facility for female substance abusers. New Life provides inpatient and outpatient
programs. The inpatient clients are expected to learn and put in practice daily activity skills such
as housework, cooking, having scheduled and well structured lives. The clients are also expected
to attend group meetings throughout the day and also have individual meetings with their
therapist. Clients are also assisted in finding resources that will help them when they have
completed the program. Outpatient clients either live at home or come from transitional housing
and they have scheduled meetings with their therapists and also can attend Narcotics anonymous
meetings freely. The client population is adult females. Most of the existing clients in the facility
are Caucasian and African American, but any female addict willing to work on their recovery is
welcomed. Measurement is impacted because the clients in the facility are drug abusers. Even
though the scores may vary it is expected for the score to be high. Another way that the
measurement can be impacted the outpatient clients results because they are more likely to have
lower scores than inpatient clients. Other than the client population, the time given on the survey
will also have a huge impact on the outcome because it is based on the past 12 months.
The operational definition of the outcomes assessed in the Drug Abuse Screening Test is
that the inpatient clients are more likely to have higher scores that the outpatient clients. This
outcome is selected because the outpatient clients are one step ahead of the inpatient clients. The
outpatient clients have completed the inpatient program and have been sober for a longer amount
of time than the inpatient clients. The survey questions are based on the past 12 months, which
can lead the outcome of the survey to prove that inpatient clients will have higher scores.
In the article Substance abuse control: how do we measure success? many ways of
measurement are used. The article measures success of substance control by traditional, drug

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use, relapse and harm-reduction measurements. The traditional measurement is by arrest.

When an individual is abusing drugs the first sign of identification of their drug use is when they
come in contact with the criminal justice system. Traditional measurements are taken by arrest
and re-convictions. Another type of measurement is the drug use measurement. When measuring
drug use one must have a base line, such as drug of choice, frequency of use, age, and race
(Mann 2010). Surveys are used to measure drug use, such as The Drug Abuse Screening Test
used for this research. A limitation to survey measurements will be mistrust of confidentiality
issues the subject might have. This article used the NSDUA as an example of a survey used for
drug use measurements. A way to measure relapse is the substance abuse treatment cycle. The
substance abuse treatment cycle is when the client returns for treatment after the relapse. The
harm reduction measurement is counted by the users number of time they used the drug and the
dosage (Mann 2010). Many of the measurements provided in this article are collected from
surveys, assessments and criminal records. All of the methods of measurements are acquired
through research.
In conclusion, surveys and criminal records are vital in the prevention and treatment of
substance abusers. Surveys can help the client recognize that there is a problem that needs to be
addressed. The criminal justice system can seek help for those with substance abuse issues. In
New Life our clients scores of this survey may vary but the inpatient scores are more likely to be
higher than the out patient clients score.

SPSS Data file Information:

Variable Names:
Used_drugs

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Drugs_abused
One+
Function_without_using
Able_to_stop
Continuous_use
Limit_use
blackouts
feel_bad
Suspicion
Marital_problems
Family_help
Friend_lost
Neglect_work_family
Work_trouble
unemployment
fights
arrest_behavior
DWI
Illegal_activities
Arrest_possesion
withdrawal
medical_problems
help

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hospitalization
Drug_treatment
Outpatient

References
Mann, J. (2010). Substance abuse control: how do we measure success? Forum on Public Policy:
A Journal of the Oxford Round Table. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA252191868&v=2.1&u=lom_waynesu&i
t=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=6ef894f9ed63adefe757c3e58b04dafa

(SURVEY) http://www.drtepp.com/pdf/substance_abuse.pdf
http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE
%7CA252191868&v=2.1&u=lom_waynesu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1