A scoping review of key domains for youth outcome measurement in alcohol and other drug treatment

Introduction: The alcohol and other drug treatment needs of young people differ from adults. It is important that outcomes measured in this client population are meaningful and use tools that are validated among young people. However, there has been no research to date that has looked at which outcomes and tools are most relevant for this population. This scoping review identifies outcome domains for young people that are supported by the research literature and clinical practice frameworks and identifies important evidence gaps. We also assessed which validated tools exists to measure these domains.

Method: A scoping review of peer reviewed and grey literature was undertaken. Five electronic databases for published papers and eight grey literature databases were searched. Details of studies were extracted in a table and a quality assessment was undertaken on a group level.

Key Findings: 3688 publications were identified, with 38 meeting inclusion criteria being included in the final review. Overall, the quality of the evidence was satisfactory to good, except for the level of evidence component. Twelve outcome domains and 47 outcome tools were identified.

Discussion and Conclusions: Alcohol and other drug use, peers and social networks, mental health and wellbeing and family were identified as most relevant for young people in treatment. Although many outcome tools were identified, none of the identified tools completely meet the needs of clinicians and young people in alcohol and other drug treatment (for example, too long or do not capture all domains).