Screening and Assessment Flashcards

The TWEAK screening tool is most commonly used to identify at-risk drinking in which specific population?

Answer: Pregnant women during prenatal visits

TWEAK (Tolerance, Worried, Eye-opener, Amnesia, Cut down) was developed and validated specifically to identify at-risk alcohol use in pregnant women.

During a substance use assessment, a client minimizes the extent of their alcohol use compared to records obtained from collateral sources. This discrepancy is BEST described as:

Answer: Denial or minimization, a common feature of substance use disorders

Minimization of use is a common defense mechanism in substance use disorders and should be explored therapeutically rather than treated as a barrier to treatment.

Which of the following is a key component assessed in the SOCRATES (Stages of Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale)?

Answer: Recognition of a drinking problem, ambivalence, and taking steps to change

SOCRATES assesses three factors: Recognition (acknowledgment of a problem), Ambivalence (uncertainty about change), and Taking Steps (current change efforts).

A thorough substance use history collected during assessment should include which of the following elements?

Answer: Age of first use, substances used, frequency, amount, route of administration, and consequences

A comprehensive substance use history captures onset, progression, patterns of use, routes, consequences, prior treatment, and periods of abstinence across all substances.

Which laboratory test result, when elevated, most directly supports a clinical impression of heavy chronic alcohol use discovered during assessment?

Answer: Elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)

GGT is a liver enzyme that is sensitive to heavy alcohol use and is commonly elevated in individuals with chronic alcohol use disorder.

In the context of a substance use assessment, 'cross-addiction' or 'cross-dependence' refers to:

Answer: A client using substances to manage withdrawal from a different substance in the same pharmacological class

Cross-dependence occurs when tolerance and withdrawal from one substance (e.g., heroin) can be suppressed by another substance in the same class (e.g., methadone), which is clinically important during assessment.

Which of the following assessment findings would MOST strongly support a diagnosis of Severe Alcohol Use Disorder under DSM-5 criteria?

Answer: Client meets 6 or more of the 11 DSM-5 criteria for alcohol use disorder

Under DSM-5, Severe Alcohol Use Disorder is diagnosed when a client meets 6 or more of the 11 diagnostic criteria within a 12-month period.