Screening drug abuse clients with the brief symptom inventory

A sample of 300 new admissions at a rural outpatient drug treatment agency were administered the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) during the initial screening. This study sought to determine if the BSI had sufficient discriminative validity to distinguish between groups with various levels of drug abuse, between those having fewer or more life areas affected, and between primary clients and their significant others. The results of the study indicated that the BSI does have usefulness in making such discriminations. Suggestions for its use in clinical care and quality assurance are offered.