Family Based Contingency Management for Adolescent Alcohol Abuse

Approximately 1.5 million youth ages 12-17 (representing 6.1% of all youth in that age range) are in need of treatment for alcohol abuse, yet only 7.2% of those in need of treatment received it. Importantly, most youth (90.5%) who were classified as needing treatment based on their self report of Adolescent Alcohol Study Plan; v.2; 3/30/12Page 2 of 35 symptoms, perceived no need for treatment. Thus, there is a need to develop treatments that target populations of alcohol abusing youth who are not highly motivated to change their substance use. New outpatient family based and contingency management interventions for adolescent marijuana abuse have been developed, yet none of these interventions has specifically targeted adolescent alcohol use. It is important to target primary alcohol abuse and dependence in adolescence as approximately 20% of treatment-seeking youth report primary problems with alcohol. The primary aim of this proposal is to adapt our family-based contingency-management treatment to target adolescent alcohol abuse and dependence. This project will develop, manualize, and pilot a contingency management intervention that includes two components. First, an incentive program will enhance the adolescent's engagement in the treatment process and engender alcohol abstinence by providing positive reinforcement for documented abstinence via breathalyzers administered by parents regularly at home, self and parent report, and clinic based urine drug testing. Second, a parent management training program will enhance and maintain the positive effects of the incentive program by teaching parents how to effectively use contingency management in the home environment to motivate their adolescent to achieve abstinence and improve their behavior in other domains.

Inclusion criteria

• 12-18 years old (if 18, must attend high school and live at home)
• Report using alcohol during the previous 30 days
• Have a parent/guardian who can participate
• Meet DSM criteria for either Alcohol Abuse or Dependence
• Youth who meet DSM criteria for Alcohol Dependence may also meet criteria for Marijuana Abuse or Dependence and other Drug Abuse
• Youth who meet DSM criteria for Alcohol Abuse, may also meet criteria for Marijuana or other Drug Abuse
• Live within a 30-minute drive of the clinic

Exclusion criteria

• Meet DSM criteria for Drug Dependence (other than Marijuana Dependence)
• Meet DSM criteria for Alcohol Abuse with Marijuana Dependence. Use of other drugs will not be excluded
• Participants will also be excluded if they exhibit an active psychosis
• Have a severe medical or psychiatric illness that will limit participation
• Are pregnant or breast-feeding