The association between anxiety and alcohol versus cannabis abuse disorders among adolescents in primary care settings.

Background: Both clinical and population-based studies show that anxiety disorders and substance misuse frequently co-occur in adults, whereas among adolescents, less examination of this association has been done. Adolescence is frequently the time of substance use initiation and its subsequent interaction with anxiety disorders has not been fully explored. It is unknown in adolescents whether anxiety is more related to alcohol abuse versus cannabis abuse.

The patient health questionnaire for adolescents: validation of an instrument for the assessment of mental disorders among adolescent primary care patients.

Purpose: To investigate the validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A), a self-administered instrument that assesses anxiety, eating, mood, and substance use disorders among adolescent primary care patients.

Methods: A total of 403 adolescents from California, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio completed the PHQ-A and the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-20) during or shortly after a visit to a primary care clinic or a school nurse's office. A few days later, clinical psychologists who were blind to the results of the PHQ-A administered a semi-structured clinical interview to assess the same psychiatric disorders and to conduct a global assessment of functioning (GAF) among 403 patients.