Severity of Drug Disorders--Clinician Scales

No semi-structured clinical interview currently exists that (a) assesses the severity of DSM-IV andsubstance use disorders and (b) is designed to be sensitive to changes in clinical status. The Psychfor Substance and Mental Disorders (PRISM) is a clinician-administered, semi-structured interview thprovides reliable diagnoses of drug and alcohol disorders. Preliminary psychometric analyses of PRIthe drug and alcohol sections are well-suited for modification into a scale providing continuous sevand ICD-1O dependence, abuse and harmful use criteria. Thus, development of such a scale is proposeinclude (i) literature review and further PRISM-IV data analyses; (2) modification of PRISM items ineach criterion; (3) qualitative pilot study of the scale; and (4) development of a training manual.include (i) development of computer software for data entry, data cleaning and derivation of severitdevelopment of full training materials; and (3) reliability and validity testing in substance and psby gender and minority status. This work would constitute further innovation of existing procedurescommercial applications in treatment outcome research and the training of clinicians.Phase II Contracts