Updated Models of Adolescent Substance-related Interference and Problems (A-SIP) and Measurement of Substance-related Interference and Problems Identification Test (SIP-IT).

The inherent developmental distinctions in brain structure, connectivity, and function between adolescents and adults continue to gain recognition. However, these neurodevelopmental considerations have yet to translate into real-world, practical modifications to etiological models, diagnostic systems, and assessments used by clinicians and practitioners working with adolescents engaged in substance use. This review leverages over 15 years of human translational (integrated adolescent brain and clinical intervention) research to evaluate current models of addiction, substance use disorder criteria, and their developmental synchrony with the adolescent age group. Consonant with increasing calls for an age-appropriate conceptualization of substance-related problems, this review offers a novel and developmentally-tailored definition of substance-related problems, termed Adolescent Substance-related Interference and Problems (A-SIP), capturing ten developmentally-informed symptoms across three functional domains: occupational, social/peer, and family/guardian(s). We also provide the accompanying tool, measurement of Substance-related Interference and Problems Identification Test (SIP-IT), for on-the-ground practitioners to more accurately identify A-SIP in adolescents.