Course of functioning in adolescents 1 year after alcohol and other drug treatment

• Published in: Psychology of addictive behaviors Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 68
• Main Authors: Maisto, S A, Pollock, N K, Lynch, K G, Martin, C S, Ammerman, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.03.2001
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Alcoholism - complications; Alcoholism - psychology; Alcoholism - rehabilitation; Case-Control Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Multivariate Analysis; Pennsylvania; Stress, Psychological; Substance-Related Disorders - complications; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Treatment Outcome; Pennsylvania
• ISSN: 0893-164X
• DOI: 10.1037/0893-164X.15.1.68

Clinical course was studied in 131 male and female adolescents with current alcohol use disorder (AUD) at baseline (BL). Participants were classified into 4 groups according to their diagnosis and drinking pattern 1 year later. The 4 groups were compared with each other and with 37 community control participants. Results showed that over half of the clinical sample no longer had a current AUD at 1 year; about 64% were and 36% were not still drinking. BL discriminators of 1-year status were alcohol dependence, other drug use, and coping. All of the clinical groups tended to show improvement at 1 year in the main dependent variables, and the abstainers' level of drug use and coping were comparable with that of the community participants. These findings suggest that many adolescents improve in functioning during the 1 year after alcohol and drug treatment and that a stress and coping model is useful for studying clinical course of AUDs in adolescents.