(MAQ) Maryland Addictions Questionnaire

BY WILLIAM E. O'DONNELL, PHD, MPH, CLINTON B. DESOTO, PHD, AND JANET L. DESOTO, EDD

Brief, economical, and easy to administer and score, the MAQ is one of the best treatment planning tools you’ll find. Administered at intake, it quickly tells you how severe the addiction is, how motivated the patient is, which treatment approach is most likely to work, what the risk of relapse is, and whether treatment may be complicated by cognitive difficulties, anxiety, or depression.

Find out if the Patient Will Benefit From Treatment

The MAQ can be used with anyone aged 17 or older who can read at a fifth-grade level. It is a self-report inventory composed of 111 items on the following scales: 

Substance Abuse Scales

• Alcoholism Severity

• Drug Abuse Severity

• Craving

• Control

• Resentment

Summary Scores

• Emotional Distress

• Resistance to Treatment

• Admission of Problems

Treatment Scales

• Motivation for Treatment

• Social Anxiety

• Antisocial Behavior

• Cognitive Impairment

• Affective Disturbance

Validity Scales

• Inconsistent Responding

• Defensiveness

The test gives you standard scores and percentiles for each of these scales. Based on the relative elevation of the Summary Scores, it also assigns the patient one of six Summary Codes, indicating his or her ability to benefit from treatment.

Determine Treatment Readiness, Treatment Approach, and Relapse Risk

The MAQ can be completed in just 15 to 20 minutes. (A 30-item Short Form, which includes the scales Alcoholism Severity, Drug Abuse Severity, Craving, Control, and Affective Disturbance, can be completed in only 5 minutes.) While the AutoScore™ Answer Sheet makes hand scoring quick and easy, the test can also be computer scored using the CD. This software scoring option gives you an interpretive report full of concrete, specific information about the most productive treatment approach, the patient’s treatment readiness, relapse risk, and related problems.

Norms are based on a large sample of people receiving substance abuse treatment at outpatient clinics, residential facilities, or halfway house programs.

The MAQ is brief yet multidimensional, the items are easy to complete, the scales are easy to interpret, and the results facilitate treatment planning. All of this makes it the ideal intake measure for patients entering an addiction treatment program.