Intro to addictions
Short Understanding of Substance Abuse Scale
PsycTESTS Citation: Humphreys, K., Greenbaum, M. A., Noke, J. M., & Finney, J. W. (1996). Short Understanding of Substance Abuse Scale [Database record]. Retrieved from PsycTESTS. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/t02615-000
Instrument Type: Rating Scale
Test Format: Respondents rated 19 items from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). To make scale scores more intuitively meaningful (i.e., so that complete disagreement with a model resulted in a score of zero, and strong endorsement was scored as four), responses were recoded by subtracting one from each response.
Source: Humphreys, Keith, Greenbaum, Mark A., Noke, Jennifer M., & Finney, John W. (1996). Reliability, validity, and normative data for a short version of the Understanding of Alcoholism Scale. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Vol 10(1), 38-44. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0893-164X.10.1.38
Permissions: Test content may be reproduced and used for non-commercial research and educational purposes without seeking written permission. Distribution must be controlled, meaning only to the participants engaged in the research or enrolled in the educational activity. Any other type of reproduction or distribution of test content is not authorized without written permission from the author and publisher. Always include a credit line that contains the source citation and copyright owner when writing about or using any test.
doi: 10.1037/t02615-000
Items
Disease
Every alcoholic and addict must accept that he or she is powerless over alcohol and drugs, and can never drink
or use again.
Every alcoholic or addict is one drink or one hit away from a total relapse.
Once a person is an alcoholic or addict, he or she will always be an alcoholic or an addict.
If an alcoholic has a drink, or if an addict takes a hit, they lose control and are unable to stop from getting
drunk or high.
There are only two possibilities for an alcoholic or drug addict—permanent abstinence or death.
If an alcoholic or addict is sober or straight for five years, and then starts drinking or using drugs again, he or
she is right back where he or she left off in the development of the disease.
People can be born addicts or alcoholics.
Psychosocial
A person's environment plays an important role in determining whether he or she develops alcoholism or drug
addiction.
The society or culture in which one grows up has a significant influence on whether or not one becomes an
alcoholic or addict.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are caused, in part, by growing up in a dysfunctional family.
Alcoholism and drug addiction are caused, in part, by what one learns about alcohol and drugs and the
drinking/drug use patterns of one's family and friends.
A person can develop alcoholism or drug addiction because of underlying psychological problems.
Eclectic orientation
Alcoholics and drug addicts who are forced into treatment do just as well as those who come into treatment
on their own.
If an alcoholic or addict isn't motivated, there is not much you can do to help him or her.
There are "problem drinkers" who have significant problems with alcohol, but who are not alcoholic.
Usually if alcoholics and addicts fail to recover in AA/NA or in treatment, it is because they are unmotivated
and in denial.
Alcoholics and drug addicts have a distinct set of personality traits by which they can be identified.
Denial is part of the personality of the alcoholic or drug addict.
Except for detoxification, alcoholics and addicts should never be given psychiatric medications such as anti-
depressants, lithium, or anti-anxiety drugs.
Note. Items adapted from "Therapist Conceptualizations of Alcoholism: Measurement and Implications for the
Treatment Decisions," by T. B. Moyers and W. R. Miller, 1993, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 7, p. 242,
and Moyer's (1991) dissertation.
Short Understanding of Substance Abuse Scale
SUSS
PsycTESTS™ is a database of the American Psychological Association