Brief motivational interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and contingency management for youth substance use disorders

(from the chapter) Research has shown that early onset of substance use problems can predict continuing substance abuse problems in adulthood. Individuals who seek help at earlier stages of drug dependence often experience more favorable outcomes, highlighting the importance of working with adolescents who are beginning their involvement with drugs. Several approaches to treating adolescent substance abuse have been evaluated in the literature, but the majority of these approaches have little support for use with adolescents. Also, although therapy appears to help, little evidence is available to suggest that one therapy is more effective than another therapy. Even less is known about what therapy works for various populations, including ethnic or cultural groups and adolescents with comorbid diagnoses. Most of the treatment research on adolescent substance abuse is at the efficacy level, which establishes the value of an intervention in a well-controlled population, and little research is available from which to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of interventions in less controlled conditions of real-world populations. Treatments with strong efficacy might not be effective in community practice. Therefore, attention to treatment fidelity, supervision, and practitioner training will be important foci of future research. In this chapter, we review outpatient brief motivational interventions (BMIs), CBT, and the contingency management reinforcement approach for youth with alcohol and/or substance use disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (chapter)