IS YOUR CHILD LIKELY TO USE ILLICIT DRUGS?

Online Test Could Answer The Question

VALPARAISO - Watching a child struggle with a drug or alcohol problem is a
nightmare most parents would rather prevent than face. The task is in
catching a problem before it exists.

"Many of us have said, 'If only I would have known ahead of time,' " said
Sharon Cawood, director of the Porter County Substance Abuse Prevention
Council.

Now there is a way for parents to detect chemical usage or the proclivity
to such usage online using the highly accurate Substance Abuse Subtle
Screening Inventory, or SASSI, test. Within a short time this tests will
also be available for voluntary participation at high school driver
education programs in Lake and Porter counties. Parents can find the test
online for $30 at www.proscreening.net/porter

"It can give the parents prevention skills to look at regarding their
child," said Cawood, who included SASSI test information in the council's
recently published parent's guide. "The parent would know if there is a
problem or even a risk."

The SASSI test is medically proven, with accuracy rates from 93 percent for
early stage identification to 98 percent for later stages, said Stewart
Cooper, director of Valparaiso University's Counseling Services and
director of the university's psychology graduate program.

"The SASSI itself is very effective, probably the most effective out there
in picking up people with a high proclivity, who are likely to develop a
problem," said Cooper, who studied an internship under the test developer.

A Valparaiso University group working on an accident-predictability project
is teaming with school superintendents in Lake and Porter counties to
incorporate the SASSI test in driver education programs.

The test will be available in some Lake County high schools as early as
this year.

What makes the driver's education application so appealing is that the
classes are a gathering point, a unique opportunity to screen a majority of
adolescents - and at a point in their lives when early identification is
most beneficial.

The SASSI consists of nine scales based on 55 hypothetical true-false
questions related to chemical abuse and 26 questions that allow respondents
to self-report drug or alcohol use.

Unlike "face valid" questionnaires, the SASSI does not depend on the
honesty of the responder for accurate results. There is no seemingly right
or wrong way to answer some true-false questions like, "I believe that
sometimes people get confused" or "Most people will laugh at a joke at times."

"You can't know what way to answer," Cooper said.

The answers do, however, give the examiner an insight into the person.

After the child takes the test, parents receive a letter stating whether
the child does or does not meet the criteria for chemical dependency, at
what degree of risk for chemical dependency the child seems or if the
validity of the test is in question.