Psychometric properties of the Drug Abuse Screening Test in psychiatric outpatients

Individuals with a severe mental illness frequently have substance abuse an d dependence problems, placing them at increased risk for poor treatment ou tcome. However, the reliability and validity of self-report measures assess ing 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 sa mple. Participants were 73 men and 24 women who had been receiving treatmen t at a public psychiatric facility All participants completed the DAST alon g with other measures of substance use and psychiatric status. The DAST dem onstrated adequate internal consistency and temporal stability in this samp le. Factor analysis supports a multidimensional scale. We evaluated criteri on-related, concurrent and discriminant evidence for validity, and we have concluded that both tested versions of the DAST have sound psychometric pro perties when used with psychiatric outpatients.