Longitudinal properties of the PARADISE24fin questionnaire in treatment of substance use disorders

Improvement of overall functioning is an important goal in the treatment of substance use disorders, and thus tools for monitoring change are needed. The current study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal metric invariance and sensitivity to change for the PARADISE24fin questionnaire. A total of 1153 patients with substance use disorders completed the PARADISE24fin in two measurement occasions along their treatment. Patients were categorized into three groups according to their treatment status at the second occasion (end of the treatment, on-treatment follow-up, and re-start treatment). The latent structure of the PARADISE24fin questionnaire was analyzed in the two measurement occasions with confirmatory factor analyses. Evidence of the PARADISE24fin sensitivity to change was studied comparing mean change scores for the three treatment status groups. The PARADISE24fin showed a strong longitudinal metric invariance across the two occasions in the three treatment status groups. The PARADISE24fin scores decreased during treatment, especially among the group of patients that had completed their treatment. The PARADISE24fin is a reliable questionnaire to measure changes in psychosocial difficulties in substance use disorders overtime. •The PARADISE24fin can measure psychosocial difficulties in substance use treatment.•The PARADISE24fin measures the same concept of psychosocial problems overtime.•The PARADISE24fin was sensitive to changes in different treatment phases.•The PARADISE24fin can be used to monitor changes of psychosocial difficulties overtime.