Reducing adolescent substance abuse and delinquency: Pilot research of a family-oriented psychoeducation curriculum

Ninety-three parents and 102 adolescents were referred by juvenile court and treated for substance abuse and a co-morbid diagnosis of either oppositional defiant or conduct disorder using a parent education program over a six-week period. The goals of this study were to assess whether or not active parent involvement and the concurrent treatment of severe behavior problems would reduce teen substance as measured by the adolescent SASSI scale. In addition, if the SASSI scale indicated a significant reduction in substance abuse would these changes be maintained after a 12-month follow-up period as measured by re-arrest rates through juvenile court records? The results indicated that a parent's participation in their teen's treatment of substance abuse and other severe behavioral problems did have a major positive impact. Even though the adolescent's attitudes and defensiveness towards drugs or alcohol did not significantly change their substance abuse did. This was demonstrated by both the statistically significant changes on the adolescent's SASSI scores and the fact that 85% did not relapse over the course of an entire year after treatment was completed.