Motivational interviewing with adolescents presenting for outpatient substance abuse treatment

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a brief psychotherapeutic intervention to increase the likelihood of a client's considering, initiating and maintaining specific change strategies to reduce harmful behavior. MI is founded on principles of motivational psychology, client-centered therapy and stages of change in natural recovery from addiction. MI treatment includes components common to most brief interventions for addictive behavior that have been empirically tested (Bien, Miller and Tonigan, 1993). This paper presents research evidence for the efficacy of MI, a description of the methods and goals of MI, the rationale for MI as an appropriate brief intervention for adolescents, and a specific application of MI to an adolescent sample. Seventy-seven youths (14 to 20 years old) presenting for outpatient substance abuse treatment at The University of New Mexico's Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA) Adolescent Treatment Program consented to participate in this study. After completing a lengthy assessment, participants were randomly assigned to receive or not receive personalized MI feedback of assessment results conducted in an empathic, nonjudgmental, objective and supportive manner. All participants, regardless of study condition, were strongly encouraged to attend at least one session with their assigned CASAA program counselor. Three-month follow-up interviews were completed for half of the study sample and CASAA records were reviewed for the entire sample. Participants receiving the MI feedback showed significantly better treatment engagement and outcome as well as significant decreases in substance use. These findings are consistent with previous research of MI with adult samples, and support the utility of this brief intervention with adolescents with substance use problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)