Effects of recreational therapy for youth in a secured substance abuse treatment program: An exploratory study

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine if a recreational therapy program decreased substance craving scores among youth at a juvenile detention center. Existing data from three male and three female youths’ craving scores, recorded before and after four recreation therapy interventions per week, were used to obtain the results of the two research questions over an 8-week period. This secured substance abuse treatment program utilized the Craving Identification Management (CIM) model. The craving scores identified by the youth prior to and following all of the recreational therapy activities were analyzed through descriptive statistics to determine the effectiveness of recreation therapy (RT). Results of the research project indicated that recreational therapy may be an effective intervention for lowering the craving scores of youth in a secured substance abuse treatment program.