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Psychic Symptomatology as Predictor to Outcome of Treatment for Adolescent Drug Abusers

NCJ Number
165034
Journal
Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: (1996) Pages: 81-90
Author(s)
A S Friedman; A Terras
Date Published
1996
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Data from 176 adolescents were used to determine the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and outcomes of drug treatment in six drug-free outpatient programs.
Abstract
Previous research reported that adult drug abusers who reported a greater degree of psychiatric symptoms at admission improved less in outpatient treatment. The present study measured improvement by the degree of reduction in drug use and drug abuse from pretreatment to the follow-up 15 months later. The participants ranged from 14 to 21 years of age and was 64 percent male and 36 percent female. The participants were also predominantly white and Catholic. Participants and their mothers signed consents to take part in the study. Results revealed that greater psychopathology overall was not related to less improvement for adolescent drug abusers, except that greater paranoid trends among the 112 males predicted less reduction in drug use. In addition, borderline psychotic symptoms predicted more improvement as indicated by a reduction in drug use. Table and 19 references (Author abstract modified)