An Evaluation of Drug Treatments for Adolescents in 4 US Cities
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Little is known about outcomes of community-based treatment programs for adolescents with drug problems. METHODS: We studied 1167 adolescents (age range, 11-18 years; 368 females, 799 males) from 4 US cities (Pittsburgh, Pa; Minneapolis, Minn; Chicago, Ill; and Portland, Ore) using a naturalistic, nonexperimental evaluation design. These adolescents were consecutive admissions during the period from 1993 to 1995 at 23 community-based treatment programs in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies for Adolescents. Included were 418 admissions to 8 residential programs, 292 admissions to 9 outpatient drug-free programs, and 457 admissions to 6 short-term inpatient programs. RESULTS: Adolescents in treatment typically had multiple problems (eg, 58.4% of them were involved in the legal system, and 63.0% met diagnostic criteria for a mental disorder). Nevertheless, less than half (43.8%) of all patients reported weekly marijuana use in the year following treatment (dropping from 80.4% in the year before admission). Similarly, there were decreases in heavy drinking (dropping from 33.8% to 20.3%), use of other illicit drugs (dropping from 48.0% to 42.2%), and criminal involvement (dropping from 75.6% to 52.8%). Additionally, patients reported better psychological adjustment and school performance after treatment. Longer stays in treatment were positively associated with several favorable outcomes, although length of time in treatment was generally short. CONCLUSIONS: Substance abuse treatment for adolescents is effective in achieving many important behavioral and psychological improvements. Strategies specific to adolescents to improve their treatment retention and completion are needed to maximize the therapeutic benefits of drug treatment.
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Mobile approaches with youth can help address lack of recovery support participation and drop out after treatment.
“Another benefit that may be gained from using mobile approaches with youth is that it can help address the critical issues the field is challenged by with youth after treatment, including lack of recovery support participation (Sussman, 2010) and drop out (Hser, et al., 2001).”
From Substance use recovery outcomes among a cohort of youth participating in a mobile-based texting aftercare pilot program (2014) · cites this paper as Hser, et al., 2001
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- Authors
- Hser, Y.-I., Grella, C. E., Hubbard, R. L., Hsieh, S.-C., Fletcher, B. W., Brown, B. S., & Anglin, M. D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (US)
- Venue
- Archives of General Psychiatry
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2001-07-01
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 689
- ISSN
- 0003-990X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2012704724
- Cited by
- 341
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 14.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Archives of General Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- National Institutes of Health (5u01da010378-05, 5k02da000146-10)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K02-DA00139, DA-00146, U01-DA10378, K02DA000139)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Demography › Youth, Drugs, and Violence
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- adolescent substance abuse, drug treatment outcomes, community-based treatment, residential treatment, inpatient care, cannabis use, heavy drinking, illicit drug use, criminal involvement, mental illness, academic performance, psychological adjustment, treatment retention, treatment duration
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Age Factors, Ambulatory Care, Marijuana Abuse, Child, Crime, Criminal Psychology, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Residential Treatment, Confidence Intervals, Odds Ratio, Substance Abuse Treatment Centers, Treatment Outcome, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Substance-Related Disorders
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