Text message reminders to improve outpatient therapy attendance among adolescents: a pilot study.

High rates of missed appointments and attrition are common barriers to treatment for adolescents attending outpatient mental health treatment. Such figures indicate a need for innovative strategies to engage youth in treatment. The current quasi-experimental pilot study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of text message (TM) appointment reminders to improve attendance in a sample of 48 adolescents attending outpatient therapy.

A pilot study of low-cost contingency management to increase attendance in an adolescent substance abuse program.

Numerous studies demonstrate the efficacy of contingency management (CM) for improving patient outcomes, yet it is rarely used in treatment settings due to the high cost of implementation. This quasi-experimental study (N = 52) examined the effect of a low-cost "Fishbowl" CM intervention on attendance/retention in an early intervention adolescent substance abuse program. The CM group attended significantly more sessions compared to the control group.

Baseline depressive symptoms predict poor substance use outcome following adolescent residential treatment.

Objective: To characterize baseline depressive symptoms among substance-abusing adolescents and determine their association with post residential treatment substance use outcomes.

Method: In total, 153 adolescents (mean age 6.6 years, +/- 0.

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of adolescent heroin users.

Heroin use among adolescents is a major social and health problem, and has been increasing over the past decade, but has not been extensively studied. This study compared characteristics of adolescent heroin users (n = 56) to adolescent non heroin users (n = 93) at entry to short-term residential treatment through 12 months posttreatment. The heroin group was comprised of more females, older adolescents, and more Caucasians.