Drug Abuse Treatment

Research Findings from May, 1999 Director's Report

This section lists selected summaries from NIDA funded research projects that investigate the child and adolescent drug abuse treatment. The summaries provided were selected from recent issues of the Director's Report to the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse. For a more comprehensive listing of NIDA funded projects see the Director's Report.

Comparisons Among a National Sample of Adolescent Drug Treatment Clients

This paper describes important gender comparisons in drug and alcohol use, illegal activity, physical and sexual abuse, and mental health problems among a large sample of adolescents (N=3,382) who were treated from 1993 to 1995 in adolescent-oriented drug programs that participated in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study of Adolescents. Most of the adolescents reported regular use of marijuana and alcohol. Males had higher rates of illegal activity and involvement with the juvenile justice system. Females reported more sexual abuse, while males reported more physical abuse. Males and females had equal rates of conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Rounds-Bryant, J. L., Kristiansen, P.L., Fairbank, J.A., & Hubbard, R.L. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 7(4), pp. 19-34, 1998.

Parental Monitoring

The link between parental monitoring and child problem behavior has been established in three areas: substance abuse, anti-social behavior, and safety and injury. This paper reviews the work to date on the construct and accomplishes three goals: first, to provide an empirical rationale for placing parental monitoring of children's activities as a key construct in development and prevention research; second, to stimulate more research on parental monitoring and provide an integrative framework for various research traditions as well as developmental periods of interest; third, to discuss current methodological issues that are developmentally and culturally sensitive and based on sound measurement. Possible intervention and prevention strategies that specifically target parental monitoring are discussed. Dishion, T.J., and McMahon, R.J. Parental Monitoring and the Prevention of Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior: A Conceptual and Empirical Formulation. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 1, pp. 61-75, 1998.