The TCU drug screen 5: Identifying justice-involved individuals with substance use disorders

Abstract

The TCU Drug Screen II, a widely used instrument for identifying substance use problems, was originally developed based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders III-R criteria. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised the criteria and classification scheme for substance use disorders (SUDs) with the publication of the DSM-5. Subsequently, the TCU Drug Screen was modified to reflect the updated DSM-5. The current study examines the concordance of the TCU Drug Screen II and TCU Drug Screen 5 with adult and juvenile justice-involved samples. Both versions were administered to 305 adult male and 310 juvenile male justice-involved clients as part of standard intake procedures. Results revealed a high level of agreement between the two versions; however, the TCU Drug Screen 5 detected significantly more cases of SUDs, the majority of which corresponded to a mild SUD. Results documented appropriate discrimination in meeting diagnostic thresholds among both age groups, with fewer adolescents identified as having a disorder. Overall, the results suggest that the TCU Drug Screen 5 is comparable to the TCU Drug Screen II with the added potential benefit of DSM-5 conformity and severity specifiers.

Keywords:

• TCU Drug Screen
• substance use
• DSM-5
• screening
• criminal justice
• juvenile justice

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the administrators, clinical staff, and clients at participating agencies for their contributions and commitment to the project.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA; Grants U01DA036224 and R01DA025885). The interpretations and conclusions, however, do not necessarily represent the official views of NIDA or National Institutes of Health.