Substance Use Disorders

Abstract:

Although adolescent substance abuse has decreased during the past decade, its consequences to family, society and youth who abuse substances are devastatingly problematic. Youth afflicted with this disorder are often highly resistant to treatment and pose unique challenges to therapists, including difficulties achieving diagnostic accuracy, rapport, and development of social support networking. To address these difficulties clinical research involving adolescent substance abuse has become increasingly sophisticated during the past decade, resulting in a growing body of knowledge and skill sets in mental health professionals treating this disorder. Therefore, this chapter begins with a full description of the disorder, including various co-occurring problem behaviors, prevalence and important issues leading to its development and maintenance. We then underscore evidence-based methods that have been found to effectively identify, formally diagnose, and