Adolescents' Experiences of a Strengths-Based Treatment Program for Substance Abuse

Abstract

Substance abuse is a growing issue among adolescents. While not every adolescent who struggles with this issue seeks treatment, those who do frequently fail to complete treatment or tend to relapse following treatment. To improve adolescent treatments for substance abuse issues it is important to understand adolescent experiences while in treatment, along with the factors that contribute to positive treatment outcomes. Qualitative methods were used to examine 52 post-treatment interviews conducted with adolescents following their completion of a five-week strengths-based residential program for substance use issues. The adolescent narratives were analyzed to answer three research questions: (1) what aspects of the treatment program were found to be most helpful by youth, (2) which specific strengths did youth identify to be the most helpful throughout the treatment process and in beginning to overcome their substance use issues, and (3) did youth begin to adopt strengths-based thinking strategies over the course of treatment? Results include descriptive answers to these questions based on common themes across participant responses. Implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• adolescence
• post-treatment interviews
• qualitative research
• residential treatment
• strengths perspective
• substance abuse treatment

Acknowledgments

Aspects of this study were funded by a research grant from the Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO. We would also like to thank the staff form the Sister Margaret Smith Centre for their contributions to the project and the reviewers of the manuscript for their helpful comments.