Faculty Research and Publications

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Browsing Faculty Research and Publications by Subject "Adolescent"

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    A Comprehensive and Comparative Review of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Outcome
    (Blackwell Publishing, 2000) Williams, Robert J.; Chang, Samuel Y.
    There are relatively few studies on adolescent substance abuse treatment. The ones that exist tend to be methodologically weak. Methodologically stronger studies have usually found most adolescents receiving treatment to have significant reductions in substance use and problems in other life areas in the year following treatment. Average rate of sustained abstinence after treatment is 38% (range 30-55) at 6 months and 32% at 12 months (range 14-47). Variables most consistently related to successful outcome are treatment completion, low pre-treatment substance use, and peer/parent social support/nonuse of substances. There is evidence that treatment is superior to no treatment, but insufficient evidence to compare the effectiveness of treatment types. The exception to this is that outpatient family therapy appears superior to other forms of outpatient treatment.
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    Parental awareness of adolescent substance use
    (Elsevier, 2003) Williams, Robert J.; McDermitt, Dale R.; Bertrand, Lorne D.; Davis, R. Meghan
    Parental awareness of adolescent substance use was investigated in a high school sample of 985 adolescents and their parents. Only 39% of parents were aware their adolescent used tobacco, only 34% were aware of alcohol use, and only 11% were aware of illicit drug use. There were no variables that differentiated aware from unaware parents for all substances. Greater parental awareness of alcohol and tobacco use occurred with older adolescents. High adolescent ratings of family communication combined with low parental ratings of family communication were also associated with greater parental awareness of alcohol and tobacco use. Better school grades predicted greater awareness of alcohol and illicit drug use. Single parents and blended families were more aware of tobacco and illicit drug use.
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    Validity of adolescent self report of substance use
    (Taylor & Francis, 2005) Williams, Robert J.; Nowatzki, Nadine R.
    The validity of self-report of substance use was examined in 367 adolescents referred for a substance use assessment between 1996 and 2000. Referrals came from a wide variety of sources, including pediatricians, the courts, social services, as well as self-referred by their parents. Average age of the sample was 15, 52% were male, and 82% were Caucasian. Adolescents were first asked about the details of their substance use by a clinician using a structured interview with established reliability and validity (Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Diagnosis). They were subsequently asked to provide a urine sample, a requirement they were unaware of when being interviewed about their substance use. If the urine sample was deemed valid by the laboratory technician it was analyzed by means of fluorescence polarization immunoassay and paper chromatography. If positive screens were obtained for any substance, the sample was subjected to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for confirmation and quantification. Biochemical test results were compared to self-report. Overall, 28% (96/338) of the self-reports were not corroborated by urinalysis. Twenty-six percent (56/219) of adolescents who reported nonuse of a substance had a positive urinalysis. More surprisingly, 34% (40/119) of adolescents reporting substance use in the urinalysis detection window had a negative urinalysis. The present study found self-report of substance use in adolescents to only have fair validity. It is recommended that biochemical corroboration be routinely used for this population.