Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume 111, Issue 1 , Pages 4-12, 1 September 2010

Measuring addiction propensity and severity: The need for a new instrument☆

  • Kevin P. Conway

      Affiliations

    • Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 6001 Executive Blvd., Room 5153, MSC 9589, Bethesda, MD 20892-9589, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author at: Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research (DESPR), National Institute on Drug Abuse, 6001 Executive Blvd., Suite 5185, Bethesda, MD 20892-9589, USA. Tel.: +1 301 443 6504; fax: +1 301 443 2636.
    • ,
  • Janet Levy

      Affiliations

    • Duke University School of Nursing, SON New Building, Room 1019, 307 Trent Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA
    • ,
  • Michael Vanyukov

      Affiliations

    • Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Psychiatry and Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, SALK 528, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
    • ,
  • Redonna Chandler

      Affiliations

    • Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 6001 Executive Blvd., Room 5153, MSC 9589, Bethesda, MD 20892-9589, USA
    • ,
  • Joni Rutter

      Affiliations

    • Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, 6001 Executive Blvd., Room 4282, MSC 9589, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
    • ,
  • Gary E. Swan

      Affiliations

    • Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
    • ,
  • Michael Neale

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, PO Box 980710, Richmond, VA 23298-0710, USA

Received 30 June 2009; received in revised form 1 March 2010; accepted 2 March 2010.

Abstract 

Drug addiction research requires but lacks a valid and reliable way to measure both the risk (propensity) to develop addiction and the severity of manifest addiction. This paper argues for a new measurement approach and instrument to quantify propensity to and severity of addiction, based on the testable assumption that these constructs can be mapped onto the same dimension of liability to addiction. The case for this new direction becomes clear from a critical review of empirical data and the current instrumentation. The many assessment instruments in use today have proven utility, reliability, and validity, but they are of limited use for evaluating individual differences in propensity and severity. The conceptual and methodological shortcomings of instruments currently used in research and clinical practice can be overcome through the use of new technologies to develop a reliable, valid, and standardized assessment instrument(s) to measure and distinguish individual variations in expression of the underlying latent trait(s) that comprises propensity to and severity of drug addiction. Such instrumentation would enhance our capacity for drug addiction research on linkages and interactions among familial, genetic, psychosocial, and neurobiological factors associated with variations in propensity and severity. It would lead to new opportunities in substance abuse prevention, treatment, and services research, as well as in interventions and implementation science for drug addiction.

Keywords: Tobacco, Cannabis assessment, Individual differences, Adolescents

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☆ Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, or any other governmental agency.

PII: S0376-8716(10)00112-2

doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.03.011

Drug and Alcohol Dependence
Volume 111, Issue 1 , Pages 4-12, 1 September 2010

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