Reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms in youth receiving substance use treatment.

Research shows that interventions for substance use disorders may be helpful in reducing internalizing disorders in adolescents. This paper examines the prevalence and reductions of anxiety and depression symptoms among youth receiving substance use treatment. Four hundred and eighty adolescents ages 12-17 who received treatment for substance abuse as part of the Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) effectiveness trial in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (protocol CTN-0014) were screened for anxiety and depression using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Predictive Scales (DISC-PS). Twelve-month post-randomization assessments were completed by 327 parents and 315 youth. Sixty-five percent of the sample was found to have probability of at least one anxiety disorder or depression diagnosis. Significant reductions of anxiety and depressive symptoms and significant reductions in probable anxiety and depression diagnoses were observed at follow-up. Few differences by treatment type and ethnic group were noticed.

Conclusions: This article makes a novel contribution to the literature by showing that community-based drug abuse treatments may help reduce the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms and probability of diagnoses among adolescents. Adolescents with comorbid substance use and mental health problems constitute a unique clinical population at a very high risk for comorbid problems into adulthood to the extent that it has become one of the most pressing issues in developing and testing effective interventions for drug abuse. Results of this study suggest there were significant reductions in symptoms after treatment, even when controlling for other services that these adolescents might have received for these problems, a discovery with important clinical implications.

Related protocols: CTN-0014