Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention Advance Access originally published online on July 12, 2006
Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 2006 6(3):177-205; doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhl001
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Original Article |
Treatment Effectiveness With Dually Diagnosed Adolescents: A Systematic Review
From the School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin (Bender and Springer) and the School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas (Kim)
* Contact author: Kimberly Bender, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work, 1 University Station D3500, Austin, TX 78712. E-mail: kbender{at}mail.utexas.edu.
The treatment of dually diagnosed adolescents is challenging for many reasons, including complex treatment needs, poor treatment engagement and retention, and a lack of sustainable treatment outcomes. Although a large percentage of adolescents are diagnosed with both substance abuse and mental health diagnoses, research is only beginning to identify effective treatments for this population. The current study systematically reviews randomized clinical trials of interventions for dually diagnosed adolescents. Results examining both between-group effect sizes and within group changes indicate the efficacy of several treatment modalities in improving specific aspects of treatment needs but highlight family behavior therapy and individual cognitive problem-solving therapy as showing large effect sizes across externalizing, internalizing, and substance-abuse outcomes in dually diagnosed youth. The study further discusses the complexities of systematically evaluating the currently limited state of research on dually diagnosed youth. Finally, preliminary guidelines for treating dually diagnosed adolescents are derived from a review of those treatments shown to be most effective.
KEY WORDS: dual diagnosis, comorbid, adolescents, evidence-based treatment, outcome, systematic review