Motivational interviewing in pediatric practice

Motivational Interviewing (MI), which historicallyhas been used with problem drinkers, hasincreasingly been adapted successfully for usein primary care settings. Recent investigations haveshown that MI is an effective strategy for decreasingadolescent substance use, decreasing health-risk behaviors,and increasing adherence to treatment regimens.Given the increased interest in using MI inpediatric health settings and the relative effectivenessof such approaches, a review of MI studies withparticular attention to its application to pediatric practiceseems warranted. In this article, we will presentthe theory and background of MI and review theliterature regarding the use of MI with adolescentsand, specifically, its application by physicians inpediatric settings. We conclude with a review of basictechniques in applying MI and provide two caseexamples to demonstrate examples of MI’s practicalapplication.