Screening of Mental Disorders Among Clients with Addictions. The Need for Population-Specific Validation

On screening for mental disorders among clients in treatment for substance use disorders, the question is to find screening tools that have been validated with samples drawn from the target population, within the treatment context. A convenience sample of seventy-six men and women, from 18 to 65 years old, proficient in English, consecutively presenting for treatment of substance use disorders other than those related to nicotine or caffeine in two not-for-profit treatment centers in Toronto, Ontario, were assessed with the PDSQ followed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (SCID) on the same day. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the PDSQ’s diagnostic performance with the SCID as the gold standard. Correspondence between the ROC’s and those published previously for a psychiatric outpatient sample differed by diagnostic category most notably panic disorder and PTSD. Results confirmed that the validity of the PDSQ as a screening instrument for mental disorders among clients with SUDs has yet to be established and cannot be inferred from studies in other populations.