A Comparison of Adolescent Group Therapy and Transitional Family Therapy for Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Abusers

Sponsor

The Morton Center, Inc. (Other)

Overall Status

Unknown status

CT.gov ID

NCT00484367

Collaborator

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (NIH)

120

Enrollment

Location

Arms

157

Duration (Months)

0.8

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two psychosocially-based, manual-driven, behavioral modalities. One of these is a standardized version of the established modality of Adolescent Group Therapy (AGT), which includes both psychoeducational and therapeutic components. The other is a state-of-the-art family therapy approach, Transitional Family Therapy (TFT), which integrates management of the current problem with exploration of multigenerational issues. Both approaches have been developed to expressly target adolescent alcohol problems.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Alcohol Abuse Alcohol Dependence Cannabis Abuse Cannabis Dependence Other Substance Abuse	Behavioral: Adolescent group therapy Behavioral: Transitional family therapy	Phase 2/Phase 3

Detailed Description

Despite well-founded societal concerns over the use of illicit drugs by youth, alcohol use has persisted for decades as the number one adolescent substance abuse problem in the U.S. Further, research has shown that the earlier the onset of alcohol use, the more likely is a person to develop alcohol dependence later, during adulthood. Consequently, the need is clear for interventions which will arrest this process at the earliest point possible. Hence, interventions that mobilize a youth's social systems to help that young person deal with the problem, i.e., the family and peer systems, would make sense from a number of standpoints. Two primary modalities developed to deal with such issues are those examined here: family therapy and group therapy.

The participants were males and females, ages 13-17 at intake, with a DSM-IV diagnosis of either alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. Following random assignment to condition, basic treatment in both conditions was based on a 12-session model and took approximately 3-4 months, followed by 1-2 aftercare sessions over an additional 1-2 months. The treatment was provided by therapists who were already working within the community (as opposed, for instance, to graduate students). Follow-up assessments were obtained at 3 months post-treatment, 1 year post-treatment, and 2 years post-treatment, thus allowing determination of the extent to which treatment effects "held up" to a degree not attained by most of the previous outcome studies within this domain.

Comparisons: AGT and TFT are being compared on the extent to which their participants used alcohol, as well as other substances, during the three post-treatment periods. Other comparisons include school performance (grade point average), family relations/functioning, and involvement with the legal system.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

120 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

None (Open Label)

Primary Purpose:

Treatment

Official Title:

Family and Group Therapies for Adolescent Alcohol Abuse

Study Start Date :

Jul 1, 1999

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Aug 1, 2012

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Aug 1, 2012

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: 1 AGT	Behavioral: Adolescent group therapy Adolescent group therapy
Active Comparator: 2 TFT	Behavioral: Transitional family therapy Transitional family therapy

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Active Comparator: 1 AGT

Behavioral: Adolescent group therapy

Adolescent group therapy

Active Comparator: 2 TFT

Behavioral: Transitional family therapy

Transitional family therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Alcohol use Cannabis use Other substance use [Baseline, 3 months post-treatment, 1 year post-treatment, and 2 years post-treatment]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

13 Years to 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Inclusion Criteria:

Male and female outpatients 13-17 years of age at intake.
Participants had a current DSM-IV diagnosis of either alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence.
Participants signed a witnessed informed consent.
Parent or custodian of each (adolescent) participant signed a witnessed informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

Participants who met current DSM-IV criteria for bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder, or eating disorder.
Enrollment in a residential substance abuse treatment program within 2 months prior to intake.