Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT)

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The POSIT is a self-administrated, 139-item, yes/no screening questionnarie. Two scoring systems are available, the original system presented in the Adolescent Assessment-Referral System (AARS) manual and the newer scoring system available from NIDA. The original scoring system includes "red-flag" items and one expert-based cut-off score that indicates either a high or low risk for each of the 10 problem areas. In contrast, the newer scoring system does not consider red flag items but includes two empirically based cut-off scores that indicate low, medium, or high risk for each of the 10 problem areas. In the newer system, the total raw score for each problem determines the level of risk for that area.

POSIT can be utilized by school personnel, juvenile and family court personnel, medical and mental health care providers, and staff in substance use disorder treatment programs. When used in conjunction with POSIT, the POSIT follow-up questionnaire can be used as a measure of change or an outcome measure.

To obtain the computerized POSIT and POSIT followup, contact the following for pricing information on the currently available computer software:

PowerTrain, Inc.
8201 Corporate Drive
Suite 1080. Landover, MD 20785
(301) 731-0900
http://www.powertrain.com/positpc/
posit@powertrain.com

POSIT is not copyrighted and is free-of-charge. Persons wanting to use the POSIT can use it. The only request in that Elizabeth Rahdert, Editor, National Institute on Drug Abuse, is acknowledged in written materials.

POSIT was developed by:

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health.
Elizabeth Rahdert, Ph.D.
Division of Clinical and Services Research.
National Institute on Drug Abuse.
National Institutes of Health
Room 4229.
6001 Executive Boulevard.
Bethesda, Maryland, 20892-9563 U.S.A.
(301) 443-0107.
Elizabeth_Rahdert@nih.gov

You might also want to visit the POSIT website.

POSIT Map

Counties presently using the Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers.