Posted: December 8th, 2022

Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders group

Choose one diagnosis from the Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders group

Alcohol Intoxication
Overview

As you will learn throughout the program, the diagnosis of a variety of psychiatric illnesses is not always an easy or straightforward process. Multiple observations and assessment methods are often employed to reach a diagnosis. This approach can include the use of standardized assessment instruments.  This then aids you in defining a treatment plan and choosing specific treatment plans to use in the care of your clients.

You are tasked with identifying a standardized assessment instrument/tool to measure the disorders listed for each week. You will keep these instruments in the form of a “portfolio” that you can use in your clinical practice to assess clients who present with a variety of symptoms.

Instructions:

Instrument/ Tool criteria:

For each assessment, you are tasked with selecting, you will identify an instrument and:

List what DSM diagnosis the tool/instrument is used for.
Identify an assessment/diagnosis instrument.
Appraise a scholarly, peer-reviewed article that addresses the use of the instrument to support your choice as an evidence-based instrument for practice.
Evaluate the instrument’s appropriateness for diagnosing the condition it is designed to assess or if the developers of the instrument reported that the instrument is only part of a comprehensive assessment for the disorder.
Describe whether or not the instrument can be used to measure patient response to therapy/treatment or if it is strictly for assessment and diagnosis.
Discuss the psychometrics/scoring of the instrument, including reliability and validity.
Discuss any limitations associated with the use of the instrument.
Include a link to view the assessment if possible.
Use the following template in completing your portfolio assignments. Your information can be in bulleted format or just a couple of sentences for each criterion listed above. However, you must use APA citations.
Anxiety and Related Disorders
Week X
DSM:

Instrument:

Article:

Appropriateness for Dx:

Response to Therapy/Treatment:

Psychometrics:

Limitations:

References

Anxiety and Related Disorders Week 7 Student Example

Social Phobia Inventory is an instrument (SPIN)

The Social Phobia Inventory’s Psychometric Properties

Appropriateness for Diagnosis: This tool is intended for screening individuals suffering from social phobia and assigning a severity score (Connor et al., 2000). The tool was designed in accordance with DSM-4, but it is also consistent with the DSM-5 diagnosis of social anxiety disorder, with minor changes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration [SAMHSA], 2016). Despite the fact that the study is no longer valid, Duke University School of Medicine (2020) acknowledges that the tool is still useful and is used by their Anxiety and Traumatic Stress Program.

Response to Therapy/Treatment: The SPIN is suitable for testing treatment response and has been shown in studies to be sensitive to symptom changes over time. Changes in scores can indicate treatment efficacy (Connor et al., 2000).

Psychometrics: The self-administered tool consists of 17 separate statements about problems that a patient may experience if they have social phobia. The statement is then rated based on how much it bothered the individual in the previous week, ranging from ‘not at all’ (0) to ‘extremely’ (4). (4). A score of 21 or higher is considered clinically significant. The assessment tool effectively separated individuals with and without social phobia in the study. Validity is high in detecting illness severity and is sensitive to symptom reduction during treatment. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Test, The Brief Social Phobia Scale, and The Fear Questionnaire social phobia subscale all show a significant correlation with the scale (Connor et al., 2000).

Limitations: The tool’s alignment with DSM-4 rather than the more recent edition has limitations, though the differences are minor (SAMHSA, 2016). Sensitivity and specificity were good with a cutoff score of 19, but some people believe the cutoff score should be 15, in which case these measures are weaker (Connor et al., 2000).

References

K. Connor, J. Davidson, E. Churchill, A. Sherwood, E. Foa, and R. Wisler (2000).
The Social Phobia Inventory’s psychometric properties. 379-386 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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