Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation
NIDA Researchers Develop Screening Tool for Teen Substance Use This article is a condensed version of a piece that originally appeared on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) website.
Teens’ use of addictive substances often goes undetected by health care providers. But NIDA-supported researchers have developed a Brief Screener for Tobacco, Alcohol and other Drugs (BSTAD), to help spot teens’ problematic habits. In a recent study, BSTAD developers Dr. Sharon Kelly and colleagues at the Friends Research Institute in Baltimore examined the frequencies of use likely to qualify a teen for a diagnosis of an alcohol use disorder (AUD), nicotine use disorder (NUD), or cannabis use disorder (CUD). The frequencies proved to be surprisingly low, according to the researchers.
Teen drug substance use revealed For the study, the BSTAD survey employed a few, simple questions about teens’ use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs within the past year.The teens’ BSTAD responses revealed that 22 percent had used alcohol in the past year, 16 percent had used marijuana, 10 percent had used tobacco, and 3 percent had used at least one illicit substance other
than marijuana. (Original article by Eric Sarlin, M.Ed., M.A., NIDA Notes Contributing Writer) 28
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