Adolescent Research: Data Collection for this Project is Now Closed

Professionals in the U.S. who provide services to adolescents (13-18 years old) who might benefit from screening for alcohol or drug abuse are invited to take part in our Adolescent SASSI-A3 validation project.

Benefits of Study Participation:
Use the SASSI Online screening platform to administer the research version of the instrument and receive the SASSI-A2 screening report at no charge. Teen participants who agree to contribute their anonymous screening responses to the study will earn the opportunity to select a youth- or pet-focused charity as the recipient of a donation made by The SASSI Institute.

Study Aim:
The SASSI Institute is conducting a research study to validate an updated version of our adolescent screening inventory against the recently-released DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders. The SASSI-A3 Validation Study protocol SA3V17, #201703760 has been approved by the Schulman Institutional Review Board. We aim to provide practitioners with an effective tool to address the public health epidemic of adolescent prescription opioid and other prescription drug abuse, and substance use disorders more generally.

Your contribution of screenings to this research is vital to its success.

Criteria for Study Participation:

• Access to teens with or without* substance use disorders who are not in foster care and not detained by the courts in a locked treatment or detention facility.

• Professionally qualified to evaluate for substance use disorder symptoms and have sufficient information about the client to complete a symptom checklist. The DSM-5 checklist you submit must be independent of the client’s responses on the SASSI screening instrument.

• You will be asked to indicate that you have received verbal parental permission. For each client, download the SASSI-A3 Parent and Teen Study Invitation Letter and Study Information Sheet to give to your client and their parent to consider the teen’s study participation.

• Provide a signed and dated curriculum vitae, indicate completion of training in human subject protection, and a Letter of Cooperation from your organization (template letter provided). Since your participation will require IRB approval, this information is submitted for review prior to access to the SASSI-A3.

*Screening responses from teens who do not have a substance use disorder are also needed. The research study will benefit from the inclusion of participants in both groups.

We value your expertise and willingness to participate in this research. If you have questions about participation, please contact the research department at The SASSI Institute 800.726.0526 or research@sassi.com.

This project is part of The SASSI Institute’s ongoing efforts, in collaboration with professionals on the frontlines of substance abuse, to provide empirically sound and clinically informative SASSI screening measures to assist you in the important work you do with individuals suffering from substance use disorders.