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Advances in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment

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Abstract

Alcohol and other drug use among adolescents has been a public health problem for decades. Although some substance use may be developmentally routine, a concerning number of adolescents meet criteria for a substance use disorder and could greatly benefit from a quality treatment experience. However, parents and health care providers want evidence of the efficacy of adolescent-specific treatment programs. This review summarizes four factors surrounding the efficacy of current adolescent treatment programs: 1) adolescent-specific treatment services; 2) the variety of therapeutic modalities; 3) relapse and recovery rates; and 4) the need for evidence-based, quality assessments and research. Current adolescent treatment efforts are summarized, and the recent literature regarding the efficacy of adolescent treatment and recovery rates is discussed.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance

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Acknowledgment

This paper was supported in part by grant nos. K02 DA15347 and P50-DA02784 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, F282/2A West, 2450 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Ken C. Winters, Andria M. Botzet & Tamara Fahnhorst

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  1. Ken C. Winters
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  2. Andria M. Botzet
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  3. Tamara Fahnhorst
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Correspondence to Ken C. Winters.

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Winters, K.C., Botzet, A.M. & Fahnhorst, T. Advances in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment. Curr Psychiatry Rep 13, 416–421 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-011-0214-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-011-0214-2

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