Barriers and facilitators to adolescent drug treatment: Youth, family, and staff reports

Abstract

Many adolescents with substance abuse problems do not obtain treatment, and there has been no systematic exploration of perceived barriers to starting care from multiple stakeholders. This article describes adolescent, parent, and treatment staff perceptions of barriers and facilitators to treatment. We interviewed 87 adolescents, their parents, and agency staff from three residential substance abuse treatment agencies in two states to explore barriers and facilitators to care in seeking, finding, and initiating substance abuse treatment. Youth, parent, and staff reports of barriers to treatment (n = 128) far outnumbered facilitators to treatment (n = 6). Staff perceived primarily family barriers to seeking treatment (e.g., denial, stigma); parents stated challenges finding treatment (e.g., lack of knowledge), and all three groups reported barriers to initiating treatment (e.g., lack of motivation). Findings suggest structural and perceptual barriers to adolescent services vary by respondent and by the reference point on the help-seeking continuum.

• Adolescents
• substance abuse
• barriers
• treatment research