This article updates the evidence base on outpatient behavioral treatments for adolescent substance use (ASU) since publication of the previous review completed for this journal by Waldron and Turner (2008). It first summarizes the Waldron and Turner findings as well as those from more recent literature reviews and meta-analytic studies of ASU treatment. It then presents study design and methods criteria used to select 19 comparative studies subjected to Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology level of support evaluation. These 19 studies are grouped by study category (efficacy or effectiveness) and described for sample characteristics, methodological quality, and substance use outcomes. Cumulative level of support designations are then made for each identified treatment approach: ecological family-based treatment, group cognitive-behavioral therapy, and individual cognitive-behavioral therapy are deemed Well Established; behavioral family-based treatment and motivational interviewing are deemed Probably Efficacious; drug counseling is deemed Possibly Efficacious; and four integrated treatment models combining more than one approach are deemed Well Established or Probably Efficacious. The remainder of the article (a) articulates fidelity, mediator, and moderator effects reported for evidence-based approaches since 2008 and (b) recommends four enhancements to the prevailing business model of ASU outpatient services to accelerate penetration of evidence-based approaches into the underserved consumer base: pursue partnerships with influential governmental systems, utilize web-based technology to extend reach and control costs, adapt effective methods for linking services across sectors of care, and promote uptake and sustainability by emphasizing return on investment. INTRODUCTIONThis article reviews the evidence base on outpatient behavioral treatments for adolescent substance use (Turner, Muck, Muck, Stephens, & Sukumar, 2004). Because practice guidelines in behavioral healthcare now favor on-site treatment over referral for comorbid disorders (see Sacks et al., 2013), behavioral therapists should be fully prepared to manage common ASU problems that present as a secondary reason for referral or an emergent treatment issue. Thus for behavioral health providers who serve teenage populations in a variety of settings, identifying effective treatments for ASU remains a top priority.The following two sections specify the area of intervention science surveyed in this update and recap the Waldron and Turner (2008) findings that are the launching point for review. The remainder of the article summarizes findings from other literature reviews and meta-analytic studies of ASU treatment published since 2008 and introduces the main contributions of the current review; defines the search parameters and inclusion criteria for identifying the final pool of 19 comparative studies subjected to the JCCAP evidence-based treatment evaluation criteria (Southam-Gerow & Prinstein, 2014); describes the main findings of these ...

Alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among adolescents in the U.S. continues to be a serious public health challenge. A variety of outpatient treatments for adolescent substance use disorders have been developed and evaluated. Although no specific treatment modality is effective in all settings, a number of promising adolescent interventions have emerged. As policy makers try to prioritize which programs to fund with limited public resources, the need for systematic economic evaluations of these programs is critical. The present study attempted a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of four interventions, including family-based, individual, and group cognitive behavioral approaches, for adolescents with a substance use disorder. The results indicated that treatment costs varied substantially across the four interventions. Moreover, family therapy showed significantly better substance use outcome compared to group treatment at the 4-month assessment, but group treatment was similar to the other interventions for substance use outcome at the 7-month assessment and for delinquency outcome at both the 4-month and 7-month assessments. These findings over a relatively short follow-up period suggest that the least expensive intervention (group) was the most cost effective. However, this study encountered numerous data and methodological challenges in trying to supplement a completed clinical trial with an economic evaluation. These challenges are explained and recommendations are proposed to guide future economic evaluations in this area. KeywordsCost-effectiveness analysis; adolescent substance use interventions; substance use disorders; adolescent treatment outcomes; behavioral and family-based interventions

Although the science of disseminating empirically supported behavioral treatments has made remarkable advances, the ultimate goal of dissemination-sustaining the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in usual care with a high degree of fidelityremains challenging. This article presents a rationale and guidelines for transitioning from conventional purveyor-driven dissemination methods to intramural quality assurance procedures that can be maintained with routine agency resources. Three innovations for localizing EBP quality assurance are described: adaptation of observational fidelity methods for therapist self-report and supervisor observation of EBPs, process control benchmarking methods for continuous tracking of EBP fidelity strength and consistency, and development of intramural clinical expertise grounded in local management of EBP implementation and outcome data. These innovations exemplify a fundamentally empirical approach to sustaining quality EBP implementation in frontline settings.

In the first phase of a two-part treatment development study, families with a treatment-resistant, drugabusing adolescent (n=42) were offered 12 sessions of Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). This parent-focused intervention was designed to help parents facilitate their adolescents' entry in treatment and support adolescents' subsequent behavior change and to improve parent and family functioning. In the second phase, successfully engaged adolescents (n=30) were offered 12 sessions of a multicomponent individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) targeting substance use and related problem behaviors. Measures were collected at pre-and post-treatment for parents and adolescents, with an additional follow-up assessment for parents at 3-months posttreatment. Parents in the CRAFT intervention experienced a significant reduction in negative symptoms and 71% of parents were successful in engaging their resistant youth in treatment. The CBT intervention for the engaged youth was associated with a statistically significant, but not clinically significant, reduction in marijuana use.

In this study, the authors examined the role of balance between adolescent-therapist and parent-therapist alliances in the retention of functional family therapy clients. Therapeutic alliances of mothers, fathers, and adolescents were assessed from videotapes of the 1st treatment session for 43 Hispanic and 43 Anglo families. Hispanic families who dropped out before completing the requisite number of sessions were found to have greater imbalance in alliance (parent-adolescent) than those who did complete therapy. However, this finding was not replicated with Anglo families. Results are interpreted in terms of previous research on family-level balanced alliance effects.