Adolescent treatment for substance use disorders: Outcomes and outcome predictors

A statewide treatment outcomes monitoring system included baseline interviews with 387 adolescents and 363 parents representing 37 programs. This study examined adolescent and parent predictors of treatment completion and 6-month outcomes; the adolescent follow-up rate was 83.5%. Only 21.4% of the adolescents reported abstinence for the 6 months following treatment; however, marijuana use frequency, symptom counts, illegal activities, and emotional distress declined significantly. Logistic regression analyses showed that female gender increased the likelihood of both treatment completion and posttreatment abstinence, but parent participation in treatment predicted neither. These and other results are discussed in terms of their implications for examining the current treatment system.