CADS: Two Short Screeners for Cocaine and Heroin Dependence among Arrestees

• Date: 01 July 2002
• Author: Kenneth R. Petronis,Eric D. Wish,George S. Yacoubian
• DOI: 10.1177/002204260203200312
• Published date: 01 July 2002
• Subject Matter: Article

© 2002 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES

JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/02/03 907-920

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Eric D. Wish, Ph.D., and Kenneth R. Petronis, Ph.D., are affiliated with the Center for Substance

Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland. George S. Yacoubian, Jr., Ph.D., is Director

of Research, McFarland and Associates, Inc., Silver Spring, MD. Correspondence should be addressed

to: Eric D. Wish, CESAR, 4321 Hartwick Rd., Suite 501, College Park, MD 20740, (301) 403-8329 or

ewish@cesar.umd.edu.

CADS: TWO SHORT SCREENERS FOR COCAINE AND

HEROIN DEPENDENCE AMONG ARRESTEES

ERIC D. WISH, KENNETH R. PETRONIS, GEORGE S. YACOUBIAN, JR.

In view of the prevalence of drug use among criminals, the assessment of drug

dependence is a valuable responsibility of the criminal justice system. Obtaining

accurate and expeditious assessments, however, has traditionally been a difficult

goal to achieve because of limited time and resources. While several scales have

been developed to screen for drug dependence, none have been developed for

specific drugs of abuse within criminal populations. We used data from the

Substance Abuse Need for Treatment among Arrestees (SANTA) study in Baltimore

to develop screening instruments for cocaine and heroin dependence. The SANTA

interview is a module of questions that diagnoses alcohol and other drug (AOD)

abuse and dependence according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders, third edition-revised (DSM-III-R) criteria. Extensive inquiries about AOD-

using behaviors are made using a computer-assisted module of the Diagnostic

Interview Schedule, Version III-Revised (DIS-III-R), a structured interview that

operationalizes the nine DSM-III criteria to diagnose substance abuse and

dependence and estimate treatment need based on interview responses. The

Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) Arrestee Drug Screener (CADS)

developed in the current study utilizes two sets of three questions each from the

DIS-III-R for the purpose of identifying cocaine and heroin dependence among

arrestees. The high sensitivities and negative predictive values of the CADS make

them especially useful for identifying those arrestees most likely to be diagnosed

dependent on the respective drug. Implications for using the screeners with criminal

populations are discussed.