UMN Researchers: Brief Intervention Effective with Adolescent Substance Users

Some promising results out of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research: brief interventions can help students aged 12-18 dramatically reduce their substance use – in as few as 2 sessions. The team, led by clinical psychologist Ken Winters, PhD, Tamara Fahnhorst, MPH, and Andria Botzet, M Ed., implemented a randomized controlled trial in an urban public school system, delivering one of two treatment conditions, plus a control. The first, student-only condition delivered two one-hour therapy sessions in a two-week period; the second added a session with the parent(s) of the student. The results are impressive: while 37% of the control group reported avoiding cannabis during the last three months at the 6-month follow-up, 63% of the parent-group and over 50% of the student-only group reported the same.

See a complete rundown at Drug and Alcohol Findings or check the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment for the abstract.

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