Marijuana use, alcohol use, and sexual intercourse among truant adolescents.

Adolescence is a time in development when many initiate problem behaviors, including alcohol use, marijuana use, and sexual intercourse. Although research has shown that these behaviors tend to co-occur, little is known about their daily co-occurrences, particularly among high-risk groups such as truant adolescents. This study investigated the influence of marijuana and alcohol use on the odds of engaging in sexual intercourse on a daily level among a sample of truant adolescents.

Parent and Adolescent Motivational Enhancement Intervention for Substance-Using, Truant Adolescents: A Pilot Randomized Trial.

The purpose of this article is to present the results of a treatment development study designed to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of motivational enhancement therapy (MET) for substance using, truant adolescents plus the Family Check-Up (FCU) for parents. A randomized controlled trial was used to test the hypothesis that MET plus the FCU (MET/FCU) would lead to greater reductions in alcohol and marijuana use as well as truant behavior compared to a psychoeducation (PE) condition delivered to both adolescents and parents. Participants (n = 69; M age = 15.

Effects of a brief, parent-focused intervention for substance using adolescents and their sibling.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Family Check-up (FCU), a parent-focused brief motivational intervention, in families where parents were concerned about one adolescent's alcohol or marijuana use and the referred adolescent also had a sibling close in age. The primary goal of the FCU was to provide individualized feedback on specific parenting skills, including monitoring and supervision, limit setting, and alcohol-related communication. A total of 92 adolescents (37 female) between the ages of 12-19years of age along with a sibling (48 female) between the ages of 11-21years old, were randomized to the FCU or a psychoeducation (PE) comparison condition.

Moderators of Brief Motivation-Enhancing Treatments for Alcohol-Positive Adolescents Presenting to the Emergency Department.

A 2011 randomized controlled trial compared the effectiveness of two brief motivation-enhancing therapy (MET) models among alcohol-positive adolescents in an urban emergency department: adolescent MET-only versus MET + Family Check-Up (FCU), a parent MET model. Results indicated that among the 97 adolescents completing the 3-month assessment, both conditions were associated with reduced drinking and MET+FCU was associated with lower rates of high volume drinking than adolescent MET-only. The goal of this study was to identify predictors and moderators of high volume drinking in the original trial.