The Problem Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers Follow-up (POSIT Follow-up) is a brief screening tool designed for adolescents 12 through 19 years of age to identify problems requiring subsequent in-depth assessment. It also can help determine a potential need for treatment. There should be at least two months between administering the POSIT and the POSIT Follow-up questionnaire. Differences in specific problem area scores indicate a potential change during the period between the two POSIT administrations.

The POSIT Follow-up questionnaire items were derived from the POSIT questionnaire items in the following problem areas:

• Substance Use/Abuse -17 items
• Physical Health 10 items
• Mental Health - 22 items
• Family Relations - 11 items
• Peer Relations - 10 items
• Social Skills - 11 items
• Leisure/Recreation - 12 items

As a brief problem screen, the POSIT Follow-up can be used in a wide variety of settings, including inpatient and outpatient programs, various case management systems and with special populations. It can be used by staff from schools, juvenile justice systems, and mental health and drug treatment programs to gather case-level data for clinical decisions and/or aggregate data for needs-assessment surveys. The POSIT Follow-up is designed for use with the POSIT and POSIP screening instruments.

The POSIT Follow-up consists of 89 yes/no items and can be completed in 15 to 20 minutes. No special training is required to administer the POSIT Follow-up.

Notes: by Elizabeth Rahdert, Ph.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse