SUD Prevention Knowledge Scale and SUD Knowledge Scales

SUD Prevention Knowledge Scale and SUD Knowledge Scales
The Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery (SCOSAR) invites you to participate in an important community survey designed to measure knowledge about Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention and understanding of substance use issues in our community. To support this effort, the Addiction Policy Forum and researchers from the University of Delaware developed and validated two new tools to measure SUD knowledge across prevention, treatment, and recovery: the Substance Use Disorder Prevention Knowledge Scale and the Substance Use Disorder Knowledge Scale.

Purpose of This Survey

This survey aims to:
- Measure addiction knowledge – the degree to which people can understand, find, and use information and services to make informed health decisions related to SUDs
- Assess community understanding of SUD prevention strategies and evidence-based approaches
- Identify knowledge gaps that can help us develop targeted education and prevention programs
- Build a full "Continuum of Care" that eliminates barriers for Surry County residents seeking substance use treatment and recovery services
Why Your Participation Matters

Addiction is one of the most stigmatized health conditions, and individuals with substance use disorder face harsh judgments and discrimination that prevent people from seeking help. By participating in this survey, you help us:
- Understand current community knowledge about SUD prevention and treatment options
- Establish a baseline to measure the effectiveness of future prevention and education efforts
- Inform evidence-based strategies to reduce stigma and improve access to treatment
- Ensure our prevention efforts align with actual community needs and knowledge levels
Survey Details

Time Required: Approximately 5 minutes to complete

Who Should Participate: Adults 18 years and older living in Surry County, NC

Survey Access: This survey is anonymous and can be completed online

Your Privacy is Protected

Complete Confidentiality: We want to assure you that your responses are completely anonymous. Responses cannot be traced back to you as the respondent. No personally identifiable information is captured unless you voluntarily offer personal or contact information in comment fields. Your responses will be combined with those of many others and summarized in reports to further protect your anonymity.

How Your Data Will Be Used

Summarized data will be presented in formal published reports by the Surry County Substance Abuse Recovery Office and results will be available on the Surry County Substance Abuse Recovery Office website.

Findings will help us develop targeted interventions to address stigma and improve community understanding of SUD as a treatable health condition and data will inform prevention program development and resource allocation to best serve our community.

Survey Instructions

None of these questions are required, so please feel free to skip those you choose not to answer. However, the more information we have, the better we will be able to assess substance use prevention knowledge and approaches in Surry County.

Please complete only one survey per person, as we are collecting responses both via paper and online.

Questions or Need Assistance?

Contact: Jamie Edwards, Director
Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery Office
Email: edwardsj@co.surry.nc.us

Thank You for Your Participation!

Your honest responses will help us better understand our community's knowledge about substance use prevention and guide our efforts to support those affected by addiction. Together, we can build a healthier, more informed community that supports recovery and reduces the stigma surrounding substance use disorders.

Substance Use Disorder Prevention Knowledge Scale (Earnshaw & Hulsey et al., 2026).

Instructions: Please indicate whether each statement is true or false. You can choose unsure if you are not sure if the statement is true or false.
Age-Related Risk Factors
1) Delaying the onset of substance use is key to preventing addiction.
2) Using drugs during adolescence has more potential to disrupt brain function in areas critical to motivation, memory, learning, judgment, and behavior control than using drugs during adulthood.
3) Preventing early use of drugs or alcohol reduces the risk of developing a substance use disorder.
4) Early involvement with alcohol, tobacco, and drug use does not increase the risk of drug dependency later in life.
5) The age at which a teen begins alcohol or drug use is a risk factor for substance use disorder.
6) Most people with a substance use disorder began using substances before the age of 18.
Other Risk Factors
7) Inadequate parent supervision is a risk factor for substance use disorder.
8) Learning disabilities and differences are risk factor for substance use disorder.
9) Poorly defined and poorly communicated rules and expectations about substance use is a risk factor for substance use disorder/addiction.
10) Parents providing alcohol to teens can increase unsafe behaviors and alcohol use long-term.
11) Genetics is not a risk factor for the development of a substance use disorder.
12) People who live in places with greater drug availability have a higher risk of developing a substance use disorder.
Protective Factors
13) Parental involvement can prevent the development of substance use disorder.
14) Parents and caregivers can reduce the risks of developing a substance use disorder by communicating their concerns about substance use.
15) Parents and caregivers can reduce the risks of developing a substance use disorder by setting clear expectations for behavior.
16) There is nothing that parents and caregivers can do to prevent substance use among teens.

Instruction: Please indicate whether each statement is true or false. You can choose unsure if you are not sure if the statement is true or false.
Characteristics
1) Substance use disorder is health condition.
2) People with a substance use disorder often want to cut down on substance use but are not able.
3) People with a substance use disorder can easily choose to stop using substance if they experience problems with their substance use.
4) Substance use disorder is a chronic illness.
Treatment and Recovery
5) Individuals with substance use disorder need only 28 days of treatment to be cured.
6) Substance use disorder is treatable by healthcare providers.
7) It's best to wait for rock bottom to get help for a substance use disorder.
8) Getting an assessment is recommended to determine the severity of the illness and recommended level of care for an individual with a substance use disorder.
9) There are many different pathways to recovery available.
Medications
10) There are medications available to treat opioid use disorders.
11) People who take some medications to treat opioid use disorder aren't truly in recovery.
12) Medications can be an effective treatment for people with substance use disorder.
13) There are no medications available to treat alcohol use disorder.
14) Medications for addiction treatment are just substituting one drug for another.
15) There are multiple FDA-approved medications to treat alcohol use disorder.
16) It's harmful to take medications for addiction treatment long-term.
Should be Empty:

SUD Prevention Knowledge Scale and SUD Knowledge Scales

Age-Related Risk Factors

Other Risk Factors

Protective Factors

Characteristics

Treatment and Recovery

Medications