CTN-0014-A-1: Mediators and Moderators of Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) for Adolescent Drug Use
Varda Shoham, PhD
Lead Investigator
University of Arizona, Department of Psychiatry
varda@u.arizona.edu
Based on family systems theory, the investigators hypothesize that family functioning plays a critical mediating and moderating role in effective implementation of BSFT. Specifically, family change assessed during therapy should mediate effects of treatment (or BSFT intervention quality) on subsequent drug use outcomes, whereas family functioning assessed before therapy should moderate those effects, with BSFT proving most useful when prior family functioning is poor. This study also collected supplementary data on all therapists prior to their randomization (e.g., professional experience, recovery status, theoretical orientation), and on skill-acquisition trajectories of the BSFT therapists as they progress through training and the clinical trial.
Primary Findings
Results suggest that attending to parallel demand-withdraw processes in parent-adolescent and therapist-adolescent dyads may be useful in family therapy for substance-using adolescents, as it appears that parallel demand-withdraw processes in family therapy for adolescent drug abuse can compromise treatment outcome.
Results Article: Rynes K, et al. Parallel demand-withdraw processes in family therapy for adolescent drug abuse. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 2014;28(2):420-430. [get article]
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