Recovery scales
Why recovery?
Recovery is classed as a ‘dimension’ outcome measure; it is essentially a quality of life measure where a successful recovery is about living a normal life, whatever that might mean, and at the same time coping effectively with addiction. Recovery is, therefore, suggested as one of the four key measures of addiction outcomes. The recommended scale, built into Take-a-Test, is the ARQ.
Addiction Recovery Questionnaire - ARQ
The ARQ was designed on the basis of what service users, their family and friends, and addiction specialists thought recovery means. It is a treatment planning tool and outcome measure. The substance use involvement sub-scale distinguishes the ARQ from quality of life measures. Values are given for calculating clinically significant change.
Timeframe :: The last 30 days
Completion time :: <2 minutes
Scoring :: All items are scored 0-1-2-3 (questions 5,6,8 and 9 are reverse scored) giving a maximum of 36. Up to two unanswered items can be pro-rated by allocating the mean score for the valid responses
Cut-off scores :: The scale developers recommend seeing recovery as a continuous data variable and have not suggested cut-off points. A very high score would indicate a lifestyle beyond most people in the general population
Clinically significant change :: The reliable change score is >=4 and functional population scores >22
Licence: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND
References
Thurgood S, Crosby H, Raistrick D, Tober G (2014) Service user, family and friends' views on the meaning of a 'good outcome' of treatment for an addiction problem. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 21: 324-32
Iveson-Brown K & Raistrick D (2016) A brief Addiction Recovery Questionnaire derived from the views of service users and concerned others. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 23: 41-7
Truby P (2020) Validation of the Addiction Recovery Questionnaire. MSc Thesis. University of York, Department of Health Sciences. Read PDF
Truby P, Hewitt C, Raistrick D, Tober G & Watson J (2023) Measuring Recovery: The Addiction Recovery Questionnaire (ARQ), Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly Published online
Saghir M, Bhatti MI & Ahmed F (2023) Translation and validation of Addiction Recovery Questionnaire (ARQ). Qlantic Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 4: 94-101 https://doi.org/10.55737/qjssh.143024809 (translation to Urdu)
Recovery scales are essentially Quality of Life scales but slanted towards the inclusion of items that are relevant to people with an addiction problem.
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