Multidimensional Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Random assignment was made of 182 clinically referred marijuana- and alcohol-abusing adolescents to one of three treatments: multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), adolescent group therapy (AGT), and multifamily educational intervention (MEI). Each treatment represented a different theory base and treatment format. All treatments were based on a manual and were delivered on a once-a-week outpatient basis. The therapists were experienced community clinicians trained to model-specific competence prior to the study and then supervised throughout the clinical trial. A theory-based multimodal assessment strategy measured symptom changes and prosocial functioning at intake, termination, and 6 and 12 months following termination. Results indicate improvement among youths in all three treatments, with MDFT showing superior improvement overall. MDFT participants also demonstrated change at the 1-year follow-up period in the important prosocial factors of school/academic performance and family functioning as measured by behavioral ratings. Results support the efficacy of MDFT, a relatively short-term, multicomponent, multitarget, family-based intervention in significantly reducing adolescent drug abuse and facilitating adaptive and protective developmental processes.

Interplay of Psychosocial Factors and the Long-Term Course of Adolescents with a Substance Use Disorder

“…Keeping in mind that we restricted the data analysis to a limited number of psychosocial factors, our study is consistent with other studies suggesting that youth with externalizing disorders (deviant behavior), that continue to affiliate with drug-using peers, and that have non-cohesive families are more likely to show a poorer course following treatment (e.g., [76][77][78]. Thus, relapse prevention strategies aimed at correcting risk associated with delinquency, peer drug use and family estrangement command attention in treatment.…”

Adolescent and parent therapeutic alliances as predictors of dropout in multidimensional family therapy.

“…These participants were selected from the archives of prior research studies (Liddle & Dakof, 2002;Liddle et al, 2001Liddle et al, , 2004. Adolescents' mean age was 14.93 years (SD ϭ 1.11), and 24 were male adolescents, and 6 were female adolescents.…”

Un essai clinique randomisé sur la psychothérapie des adolescents dépendants au cannabis

“…La thérapie multidimensionnelle a été développée pour les problèmes relatifs à la consommation de cannabis, dans le cadre d'une approche familiale largement d'inspiration systémique (Multi Dimensional Family Therapy) [1].…”

“…thérapie de groupe, thérapie cognitivocomportementale, prévention, traitement à domicile…) en ce qui concerne quatre axes principaux qui sont : la consommation de substances, les troubles du comportement, le fonctionnement familial, et l'adhérence thérapeutique [1].…”