If you have ever wondered whether your drinking is within normal limits, whether your cannabis use is becoming a problem, or whether your phone habits are genuinely concerning - there is a good chance a screening tool exists for exactly that. Decades of clinical research have produced a vast library of questionnaires designed to flag potentially problematic substance use and addictive behaviors.

Quick Reference: Which Tool for What

Why Screening Tools Exist

Screening tools serve a specific purpose: they identify individuals who may be at risk before the problem becomes severe. In medical settings, they help busy clinicians catch substance use issues early. In research, they provide standardized measurement.

For individuals, they offer a reality check — a mirror that cuts through denial and rationalization. Take our Addiction Check to see where you stand.

A good screening tool has three key properties:

• ✓ Sensitivity: It catches most people who actually have a problem (few false negatives)
• ✓ Specificity: It does not flag people who are fine (few false positives)
• ✓ Brevity: It is short enough to be practical in real-world use

Most screening tools in this guide take between 1 and 15 minutes to complete. The shortest (CAGE) has four questions. The longest (ASSIST) takes about fifteen. All are available for free in the public domain.

Alcohol Screening Tools

Alcohol is the most screened substance in the world. Multiple validated tools exist, each with different strengths.

AUDIT - Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

Developer: World Health Organization (WHO), 1992
Questions: 10
Time: 2-5 minutes
Scoring range: 0-40

The AUDIT is the gold standard of alcohol screening worldwide. Developed by the WHO with data from six countries, it covers three domains: hazardous alcohol consumption (frequency and quantity), dependence symptoms (impaired control, increased salience), and harmful consequences (guilt, blackouts, injuries).

It is the most validated alcohol screening tool in existence, with studies spanning dozens of countries and hundreds of clinical populations. The AUDIT works across cultures, genders, and age groups - one of the reasons the WHO designed it from a multinational dataset.

→ Wikipedia: AUDIT

AUDIT-C (Short Form)

Questions: 3
Time: Under 1 minute

The AUDIT-C uses only the first three consumption questions from the full AUDIT: frequency, quantity, and frequency of heavy drinking (6+ drinks per occasion). It is almost as accurate as the full test for detecting heavy drinking and is widely used in primary care settings where time is extremely limited.

Score guide: 4 or more in men, 3 or more in women suggests risky drinking.

→ Wikipedia: AUDIT-C

CAGE Questionnaire

Questions: 4
Time: 30 seconds
Scoring: Yes/No

Perhaps the most famous four-question test in medicine. CAGE is an acronym:

Scoring: Two or more "yes" answers suggests possible alcohol dependence. The CAGE is quick but less sensitive for milder forms of hazardous drinking - it catches the extremes better than the middle.

→ Wikipedia: CAGE

MAST - Michigan Alcohol Screening Test

Questions: 24 (full) or 10 (brief version)
Use: Detecting lifetime alcohol problems

The MAST is older than the AUDIT (developed in 1971) and focuses more on the negative consequences of drinking - legal issues, relationship problems, job trouble. The brief MAST (B-MAST, 10 items) and the Short MAST (SMAST, 13 items) are practical shorter versions. The full MAST is still used in forensic and psychiatric settings.

→ Wikipedia: MAST

FAST - Fast Alcohol Screening Test

Questions: 4
Use: Emergency departments and busy clinical settings

Developed specifically for emergency room settings where the AUDIT is too long. The FAST uses the first three AUDIT questions plus one additional question about memory loss or injury. It takes about 20 seconds.

Drug / Substance Use Screening Tools

DAST-10 - Drug Abuse Screening Test

Questions: 10
Time: 2-3 minutes
Scoring range: 0-10

The DAST-10 is the drug equivalent of the alcohol-focused MAST. It asks about drug use in the past 12 months across domains of dependence, consequences, and impaired control. It covers all drugs except alcohol and tobacco.

→ Wikipedia: DAST-10

ASSIST - Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test

Developer: World Health Organization
Questions: 8 per substance
Time: 5-15 minutes
Covers: Tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, sedatives, hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, and "other"

This is the most comprehensive substance screening tool in routine clinical use. The ASSIST asks about lifetime and recent use of ten substance categories, then calculates a risk score for each. It was developed by the WHO to create a single tool that could be used across cultures and healthcare systems worldwide.

Each substance receives a score between 0 and 39+. Scores determine the level of intervention needed:

• ✓ 0-3 (low): Brief information and education
• ✓ 4-26 (moderate): Brief intervention recommended
• ✓ 27+ (high): Referral for specialist assessment and treatment

→ Wikipedia: ASSIST

NIDA Quick Screen / NIDA-Modified ASSIST

Questions: 1 (screen) → 4 (follow-up) → ASSIST if positive
Use: Primary care, general medical settings

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) developed a streamlined approach: start with a single question about past-year drug use. If the patient reports any use, proceed to the NIDA-Modified ASSIST (NM ASSIST), which is a shortened version of the WHO ASSIST. This stepwise approach saves time while maintaining accuracy.

→ Learn more on the NIDA website

CRAFFT (Adolescent Screening)

Questions: 6
Age group: 12-21 years
Covers: Alcohol and drugs combined

Designed specifically for adolescents, the CRAFFT uses language appropriate for younger people. The name is a mnemonic for the six questions: C (Car), R (Relax), A (Alone), F (Forget), F (Friends/Family), T (Trouble).

Scoring: Any score of 2 or higher indicates high risk and warrants further assessment.

→ Wikipedia: CRAFFT

SASSI - Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory

Questions: 93 (adult version)
Unique feature: Includes subtle questions that do not directly ask about substance use

The SASSI is unusual among screening tools because it attempts to detect substance use disorder even when the person is attempting to hide it. It includes both face-valid questions (obvious) and subtle questions (non-obvious) designed to identify defensive responding patterns. It is often used in forensic and criminal justice settings.

→ Wikipedia: SASSI

Gambling Screening Tools

CPGI - Canadian Problem Gambling Index

Questions: 9 (Problem Gambling Severity Index)
Time: 2-3 minutes
Scoring range: 0-27

The CPGI is the most widely used gambling-specific screening tool worldwide. Its Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) - the 9-question subset - is the gold standard for community-based research on problem gambling. The questions explore chasing losses, borrowing money, lying about gambling, and feeling guilt.

→ Wikipedia: PGSI

SOGS - South Oaks Gambling Screen

Questions: 20
Time: 5-10 minutes
Year: 1987

The SOGS is the older standard, developed at the South Oaks Hospital in New York. It asks about a range of gambling behaviors, including the types of gambling engaged in and the consequences experienced. While still widely used in research, the PGSI/CPGI has largely replaced it in community studies due to better calibration across severity levels.

→ Wikipedia: SOGS

BBGS - Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen

Questions: 3
Time: 30 seconds
Scoring: Yes/No

The BBGS was developed for use in primary care and emergency departments. It asks about preoccupation, tolerance, and withdrawal - adapting the addiction framework to gambling behavior. Three "yes" answers indicate probable pathological gambling.

Behavioral & Technology Addiction Screening Tools

Behavioral addictions - internet use, gaming, social media, pornography, smartphone use - represent the newest frontier in addiction screening. The tools are younger and less validated than substance tools, but several have strong research backing.

Internet Addiction Test (IAT) - Young

Developer: Dr. Kimberly Young, 1998
Questions: 20
Time: 5-10 minutes
Scoring range: 20-100

The IAT is the most cited tool for measuring internet addiction. It asks about the impact of internet use on daily life, relationships, work, and sleep. Questions explore: do you stay online longer than intended? Do you check email before doing other things? Do people in your life complain about your internet use?

→ Wikipedia: IAT

Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS)

Questions: 6
Time: 1-2 minutes
Framework: Based on the six core components of addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse)

The BSMAS measures social media addiction specifically, not general internet use. It asks how often in the past year you spent a lot of time thinking about social media, used it to forget personal problems, tried to cut back unsuccessfully, and felt restless when you could not use it. It is one of the most validated tools for social media.

Scoring: Each question rated 1 (never) to 5 (always). A total of 19 or higher out of 30 suggests problematic social media use.

Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS)

Questions: 7
Time: 2-3 minutes
Framework: Based on the six Griffiths addiction components + salience

The PPCS measures compulsive pornography consumption. It evaluates salience (preoccupation), tolerance (needing more), withdrawal (distress when unavailable), and impairment (negative impact on life).

Research published in BMC Public Health in 2024 found the PPCS to be one of the most accurate tools for screening problematic pornography use, particularly because it maps onto the six established components of addictive behavior rather than just asking about frequency.

Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) / Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS)

Questions: 7 (GDT)
Time: 2-3 minutes

With gaming disorder now recognized by both the WHO (ICD-11) and the DSM-5 (as a condition for further study), specific screening tools have been developed. The GDT maps directly onto the ICD-11 criteria for gaming disorder. The GAS (Lemmens et al., 2009), a 7-question tool based on the six addiction components, is the older standard.

→ Wikipedia: Gaming disorder

Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS) / Short Version (SAS-SV)

Questions: 10 (SAS-SV)
Time: 2-3 minutes

Developed by Korean researchers in 2013, the SAS and its short version (SAS-SV) measure problematic smartphone use across daily-life disturbance, withdrawal, cyberspace-oriented relationships, overuse, and tolerance. The short version has 10 questions rated on a 6-point scale.

Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS) / IGDS-SF9

Questions: 9 (short form)
Time: 2-3 minutes
Framework: Aligned with DSM-5 criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder

The 9-item short form (IGDS-SF9) maps directly onto the nine DSM-5 criteria for Internet Gaming Disorder: preoccupation, withdrawal, tolerance, loss of control, loss of interest in other activities, continued excessive use despite knowledge of harm, deceiving others, escape from negative feelings, and jeopardized relationships or career.

Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale (BSAS)

Questions: 7
Time: 1-2 minutes
Developer: Andreassen et al., 2015 (University of Bergen)

Developed by the same Norwegian research group behind the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the BSAS applies the six-component addiction framework (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, relapse) to compulsive buying and shopping behavior. It asks how often in the past year you have experienced each component specifically in relation to shopping.

Example items include: thinking about shopping or buying things all the time, shopping to change your mood, needing to buy more to get the same satisfaction, and experiencing negative consequences yet continuing to shop. The BSAS has been validated in multiple languages and populations, confirming that compulsive shopping shares the core addiction structure seen in substance and gambling disorders.

Scoring: Each item rated 1 (never) to 5 (always). Higher scores indicate greater risk. The developers recommend a cut-off for problematic shopping at approximately 21 out of 35.

SAST-R - Sexual Addiction Screening Test (Revised)

Questions: 20 (core) / 4 scales
Time: 5-10 minutes
Developer: Patrick Carnes, 2014
Scoring: Dichotomous (Yes/No) plus Likert subscales

The SAST-R is the most established screening instrument for sexual addiction (also referred to as hypersexual behavior or compulsive sexual behavior disorder, now recognized in ICD-11). Developed by Patrick Carnes - a pioneer in the field - it covers four core domains: preoccupation (obsessive thoughts about sex), affect (using sex to manage emotions), relationship disturbance (impact on partnerships), and loss of control.

The SAST-R includes a 20-item core scale that provides a global risk score, plus supplementary scales that differentiate between specific subgroups. It does not rely on a specific frequency or amount of sexual behavior - unlike earlier tools - but instead measures the relationship the person has with their behavior: is it compulsive? Is it causing distress? Do they feel unable to stop?

Scoring: A score of 6 or more on the 20-item core scale suggests the need for further clinical assessment. The supplementary scales provide additional context about the nature of the problematic behavior.

Note: The SAST-R is distinct from tests that measure pornography consumption specifically (such as the PPCS, covered earlier). It covers the full range of sexual behaviors and the underlying compulsive pattern rather than one specific activity.

Multi-Substance & Combined Tools

CAGE-AID (Adapted to Include Drugs)

Questions: 4
Use: Quick drug and alcohol screening

The same four CAGE questions, reworded to include "drugs or alcohol" in each question. For example: "Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking or drug use?" Quick to administer but similar limitations to the original CAGE - good at detecting the severe end, less useful for moderate risk.

GAIN - Global Appraisal of Individual Needs

Questions: Variable (modular design)
Time: 20-60 minutes (full version)
Use: Comprehensive clinical assessment, treatment planning

The GAIN is not a quick screening tool but a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment. It covers substance use, mental health, trauma, criminal justice involvement, and treatment needs. Used primarily in specialist addiction treatment settings and research.

SSI - Simple Screening Instrument

Questions: 16
Developer: SAMHSA
Time: 5-10 minutes

The SSI was developed for use in criminal justice and community mental health settings. It covers drug and alcohol use, loss of control, consequences, and the person's attitude toward seeking help. Widely used in correctional facilities in the United States.

→ Learn more on the SAMHSA website

How Screening Tools Are Used in Practice

Understanding how these tools work in real clinical settings explains why there are so many of them and why a single universal test does not exist.

Levels of Screening

SBIRT - Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment

Most of these tools operate within a framework called SBIRT, a public health approach endorsed by the WHO and adopted by healthcare systems in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. The idea is simple: screen everyone, give brief feedback to those at moderate risk, and refer severe cases to specialist treatment.

→ Wikipedia: SBIRT

Limitations of Screening Tools

No screening tool is perfect. Understanding their limitations is as important as knowing how to use them.

• ⚠ Self-report bias: People underestimate their use, especially when the topic carries stigma. Screening tools rely on honesty.
• ⚠ Cultural variation: A question about "drinks per occasion" means different things in different countries. The AUDIT was designed with multinational data, but many tools are not.
• ⚠ False positives: Some people score high but do not actually have a problem. Context matters.
• ⚠ False negatives: Some people with real problems score low. denial, social desirability, and even misunderstanding the questions can produce false negatives.
• ⚠ No behavioral equivalent of AUDIT: While substances have the deeply validated WHO ASSIST and AUDIT, behavioral addictions (internet, gaming, porn) have no single accepted gold standard yet. The field is still converging.

Final Thought

Screening tools are mirrors, not verdicts. A score on the AUDIT or the IAT tells you something worth paying attention to, but it does not define you. These tools exist because addiction is easy to rationalize and hard to see from the inside. If a tool flags something, the right response is not panic - it is curiosity, and perhaps a conversation with someone who knows more.

If any of the tools or habits discussed here resonated with you, the most useful step you can take is simply to reflect on your own patterns in a structured way. Take our Addiction Check right now to see where you stand. Takes only about 2 minutes, no registration required, fully confidential and with immediate results.