NCJ Number
204381
Journal
Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 13 Issue: 2 Dated: 2003 Pages: 1-28
Date Published
2003
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examined a court-adjudicated adolescent male sample (n=160) to determine the relationships between the degree of motivation for obtaining help with their substance use and illegal behavior, as expressed at admission to a residential program, and the degree of change following treatment.
Abstract
The intervention strategies involved a cognitive-behavioral social learning model for understanding the effects of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco on health and behavior, as well as for learning how to cope with temptations and pressures to start or to continue using drugs, for improving self expression, for learning how to control and direct behavior, and for achieving personal and social skills. A second intervention strategy applied a social learning model for controlling tendencies toward violence and in directing one's emotions and energies along socially and personally acceptable directions. Another social learning model was used to clarify values, explore other values, and develop and identify with a set of socially acceptable and desirable values. The primary data-collection instrument was the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis, which was used to measure change in each of nine life-problem areas, illegal and violent behavior, motivation to deal with one's problems, and the defensiveness of the subjects. A nontreatment matched control group was used for comparison purposes. The study found that those subjects who had reported relatively more severe alcohol and drug problems at admission were significantly more motivated to get help for their problems; however, no significant relationship was found between the severity of illegal behavior and motivation for addressing one's problems. No significant relationship was found between the expressed degree of motivation at admission and a positive outcome for changes in illegal behavior. Neither was there a significant relationship between motivation for treatment and changes in substance abuse patterns. Although some of the subjects who were motivated at admission to deal with their alcohol abuse problems did reduce or at least not increase their alcohol abuse at follow-up, they tended to increase their degree of drug use, primarily marijuana. The basic finding of the study, however, was that the majority of the program participants did not report that they were "troubled" by their problem behaviors or that the obtaining of help and counseling for these problems was even a "little" bit important. 7 tables and 38 references