CADC Alcohol and Drug Counselor Screening and Assessment Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which screening tool uses a single question — 'How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?' — to identify substance use risk?
- DAST-10
- Single-Item Drug Screen (Correct answer)
- CAGE-AID
- ORT
Correct answer: Single-Item Drug Screen
The Single-Item Drug Screen (SIDS) uses one question and has shown good sensitivity and specificity in primary care settings.
Question 2: A counselor administering the AUDIT notices a client scores 8 or higher. What is the recommended clinical response according to WHO guidelines?
- No further action needed
- Refer immediately to inpatient detox
- Provide a brief intervention and consider further assessment (Correct answer)
- Administer the ASI
Correct answer: Provide a brief intervention and consider further assessment
An AUDIT score of 8–15 indicates hazardous or harmful drinking and warrants a brief intervention, while scores above 15 suggest dependence requiring referral.
Question 3: During a biopsychosocial assessment, a counselor explores a client's family history of addiction. This primarily informs which domain?
- Social domain
- Psychological domain
- Biological domain (Correct answer)
- Spiritual domain
Correct answer: Biological domain
Family history of addiction reflects genetic predisposition and falls within the biological domain of a biopsychosocial assessment.
Question 4: The Stages of Change model is most useful during assessment for identifying:
- Severity of withdrawal symptoms
- Client's readiness to change substance use behavior (Correct answer)
- Type of drug primarily used
- Co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses
Correct answer: Client's readiness to change substance use behavior
Assessing readiness to change (precontemplation through maintenance) guides the counselor in selecting appropriately matched interventions.
Question 5: Which instrument is specifically designed to screen for alcohol use disorder in pregnant women and uses only two questions about frequency and quantity?
- T-ACE (Correct answer)
- AUDIT-C
- TWEAK
- CRAFFT
Correct answer: T-ACE
The T-ACE (Tolerance, Annoyed, Cut down, Eye-opener) was developed and validated specifically for use with pregnant women.
Question 6: When using the CAGE questionnaire, a score of 2 or more is considered clinically significant because:
- It indicates the client is in early recovery
- It suggests a high likelihood of alcohol use disorder (Correct answer)
- It confirms opioid dependence
- It rules out withdrawal risk
Correct answer: It suggests a high likelihood of alcohol use disorder
Research validates that a CAGE score ≥2 has strong sensitivity and specificity for identifying alcohol use disorder.
Question 7: A counselor uses a timeline follow-back (TLFB) method during assessment. This technique primarily measures:
- Client motivation for treatment
- Retrospective alcohol and drug use patterns over a specified period (Correct answer)
- Neurological impairment from substance use
- Family involvement in recovery
Correct answer: Retrospective alcohol and drug use patterns over a specified period
The TLFB is a calendar-based interview method that helps clients reconstruct day-by-day substance use patterns over a defined retrospective period.
CADC Alcohol and Drug Counselor Screening and Assessment Techniques 2
Which screening tool uses a single question — 'How many times in the past year have you used an illegal drug or used a prescription medication for nonmedical reasons?' — to identify substance use risk?