Brief Substance Abuse Treatment with Urban Adolescents: A Translational Research Study

Abstract

The purpose of this translational research study was to test a brief, manualized adolescent substance abuse treatment protocol's effects in an urban community setting compared to a sample in an experimental study from which the treatment was first employed. One hundred two adolescents who were treated with a manualized protocol of five sessions of Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT-5) were followed for six months and outcomes were analyzed against a comparison sample (n = 102). Both groups were treated with (MET/CBT-5). The community setting group showed reduced alcohol use relative to the comparison group at six months using unadjusted measures and at three and six months using propensity score analyses to adjust for the differences in baseline characteristics of the two groups. These findings support using brief, manualized treatments for diverse, urban adolescents in outpatient community settings.

KEYWORDS:

• brief treatment
• case-mix adjustment
• manualized reatment
• propensity score analysis
• translational study
• urban adolescents

This research was supported by funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, grant no. TI15433. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.

The primary author would like to acknowledge the work of the Georgetown University Adolescent Health Program staff, Sherrine Brown, MSW, Michelle Wilson, MA, and Sarah Brooks, MS, for their clinical, research, and administrative contributions.

Notes

Note: Numbers represent percent. p-value for baseline data: ∗p < .01; ∗∗p < .001.

All p-values > .05 for post-PS. For results–c-stat for PS model = 0.887.

Note: Positive values represent increase in alcohol use (confidence intervals).