The purpose of the current study was to identify predictors of delay discounting among adolescents receiving treatment for marijuana abuse or dependence, and to test delay discounting as a predictor of treatment outcome. Participants for this study were 165 adolescents (88% male) between the ages of 12 and 18 (M =15.8; SD = 1.3) who enrolled in a clinical trial comparing three behavioral treatments for adolescent marijuana abuse or dependence. Participants completed a delay discounting task at treatment onset for $100 and $1,000 of hypothetical money and marijuana. Overall, smaller magnitude rewards were discounted more than larger magnitude rewards. Delay discounting rates were concurrently related to demographic variables (SES, race). Delay discounting of $1,000 of money predicted during treatment abstinence outcomes among adolescent marijuana abusers, over and above the effects of type of treatment received. Teens who show higher levels of discounting of the future may be an important subgroup to identify at treatment onset. Youth with a greater tendency to discount the future may require different intervention strategies that address their impulsivity (e.g., targeting executive function or inhibitory control) and/or different schedules of reinforcement to address their degree of preference for immediate rewards.

Objective To conduct a randomized test comparing two multicomponent, contingency management interventions, one with and one without a full parent training curriculum, and an individual treatment for adolescent cannabis use disorders. Method 153 adolescents who met DSM-IV criteria for cannabis abuse or dependence were randomized to motivational enhancement therapy/cognitive-behavioral therapy (MET/CBT), MET/CBT+abstinence-based contingency management (CM), or MET/CBT+CM+Parent Training (PT). Results Overall, during treatment, abstinence was greater for youth receiving clinic- and home-based CM without PT compared to those who received individual MET/CBT. There was no additional benefit of the full parent training curriculum on marijuana use, youth externalizing problems, or parenting. Conclusion These results suggest that clinic- plus home-based CM for cannabis use disorders can increase rates of abstinence during treatment over and above an evidence-based treatment (individual MET/CBT), but the addition of a comprehensive parenting training curriculum did not further enhance efficacy.

Objective Many adolescents with substance use problems show poor response to evidence based treatments. Treatment outcome has been associated with individual differences in impulsive decision making as reflected by delay discounting (DD) rates (preference for immediate rewards). Adolescents with higher rates of DD were expected to show greater neural activation in brain regions mediating impulsive/habitual behavioral choices and less activation in regions that mediate reflective/executive behavioral choices. Method Thirty adolescents being treated for substance abuse completed a DD task optimized to balance choices of immediate versus delayed rewards and a control condition accounted for activation during magnitude valuation. A group independent component analysis on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time courses identified neural networks engaged during DD. Network activity was correlated with individual differences in discounting rate. Results Higher discounting rates were associated with diminished engagement of an executive attention control network involving the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex, cingulate cortex, and precuneus. Higher discounting rates were also associated with less deactivation in a “bottom up” reward valuation network involving the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These 2 networks were significantly negatively correlated. Conclusions Results support relations between competing executive and reward valuation neural networks and temporal decision making, an important potentially modifiable risk factor relevant for prevention and treatment of adolescent substance abuse. Clinical trial registration information—The Neuroeconomics of Behavioral Therapies for Adolescent Substance Abuse; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT01093898.

The magnitude of improvements in the frequency of BGM and glycemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes is encouraging and will be tested in a randomized controlled trial.