Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth:
A Practitioner's Guide

Related Resources

For Health Care Professionals

• Screening and risk assessment
• The quick two-question screening tool and risk level estimates in Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth will give you a good idea as to your patients’ level of risk for alcohol-related problems. If you wish to follow up with other tools, two to consider are the 10-question AUDIT and the 6-question CRAFFT. Both the AUDIT and the CRAFFT can be used as a paper–pencil or electronic screen, and the CRAFFT can be verbally administered.
• The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (PDF) focuses on drinking patterns and alcohol-related behaviors. Research supports use of the AUDIT for adolescents ages 14 to 18, with cut points of 2 for identifying any alcohol problem use and 3 for alcohol abuse or dependence (Knight et al., 2003).
• The CRAFFT asks about problem behaviors related to the use of alcohol or other drugs. Research indicates that a “yes” to two questions signals a problem needing further evaluation and that a score of four or more “should raise suspicion of substance dependence” (Knight et al., 2002).
• Policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Committee on Substance Abuse
• Rethinking Drinking website from NIAAA – provides background information about alcohol, including drink size calculators and symptoms of an alcohol use disorder
• Clinician’s toolkit for implementing mental health screenings (available for purchase from the AAP): Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Primary Care: A Clinician’s Toolkit

 

• Confidential health care for youth
• Center for Adolescent Health and the Law -- Offers monographs on minor consent laws and professional association policies
• Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine –  Offers a sample confidentiality statement, billing guidance, and other resources

 

• Motivational interviewing – Background and training information
• Motivational Interviewing Strategies to Facilitate Adolescent Behavior Change: A Clinical Guide for Pediatricians (PDF) – An AAP Adolescent Health Update (2007)
• www.motivationalinterview.org   
• www.motivationalinterview.net

 

• Substance Abuse Facility Locator -- Includes adolescent treatment programs (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA)

For Parents

• Publications
• Parenting to Prevent Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA)
• Make a Difference: Talk to Your Child about Alcohol (NIAAA)
• Start Talking Before They Start Drinking: A Family Guide (SAMHSA)
•  A Parent’s Guide to Teen Parties from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

 

• Websites
• Talk Early, Talk Often, Get Others Involved (SAMHSA)
• Parenting Corner:  www.healthychildren.org; in particular, “Alcohol: The Most Popular Choice” (AAP)
• The Partnership at DrugFree.org
• College Drinking Prevention site, page for College Parents  (NIAAA)

 

• Driving and Safety Agreements
• Parent-Teen Driving Agreement (AAP)
• “Contract for Life” (Students Against Destructive Decisions)

For Patients

• Alcohol and peer pressure information for ages 11-13  – The Cool Spot website (NIAAA) offers  interactive games to help kids identify and resist peer pressure to drink
• Support for patients whose parents have drinking problems
• Al-Anon Family Groups, including Alateen
• National Association for Children of Alcoholics “Just 4 Kids” page

Underage Drinking Facts and Figures

• NIAAA’s Underage Drinking Research Initiative
• NIAAA’s Alcohol Research & Health Special Issue:  A Developmental Perspective on Underage Alcohol Use (2009)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s page on Alcohol and Public Health
• Monitoring the Future