The overall project goal is to standardize the administration process and promote the appropriate use of the Addition Severity Index (ASI) in substance use treatment and research. Prior research has confirmed the usefulness of the ASI in both addictions treatment and research. When used by a trained technician it has good reliability and validity, but is vulnerable to misuse by untrained personnel.
Specific aims are to ensure that users are well trained and to enhance the usefulness of the ASI through (1) production and dissemination of a VCR film for use in training; (2) enhancement of the ASI Instruction Manual; (3) establishment of a standardized ASI training program conducted by a national network of certified ASI trainers; (4) development of a normative database; (5) establishing ASI reliability and validity for various patient populations; (6) development of software for scoring the ASI and interpreting results; and (7) publication of a newsletter providing the user community with research findings and other information pertinent to the ASI. Achievement of these aims would provide an innovative product and service of interest to more than 1,000 sites world-wide which currently use the ASI, and encourage its further dissemination.
