Validation of the Substance Addiction Risk Assessment Instrument (IVRA-Substances) for the Evaluation of Adolescents and Young Adults from a Psycho-Social Perspective

This study presents the validation of the Substance Addiction Risk Assessment Instrument (IVRA-Sustancias), designed to assess addiction risk in adolescents and young adults from a psychosocial perspective. Two complementary studies were conducted. The first study assessed content validity using the Delphi method with 32 expert professionals. Results showed strong agreement on the relevance, adequacy, and inclusion of the instrument’s criteria, supporting its content validity. The second study analyzed the factorial structure and psychometric properties of the instrument in a sample of 246 young people and 21 social educators. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed structure, and evidence of convergent validity with substance use measures and concurrent validity with indicators of emotional well-being was found. Findings indicate that IVRA-Sustancias is a reliable and valid tool for identifying substance addiction risk levels by considering not only substance use but also social, emotional, and legal context factors. Its multidimensional approach enhances tailored preventive interventions for this vulnerable population. Longitudinal research is recommended to assess the instrument’s temporal stability and predictive capacity.