Brief Strategic Family Therapy versus Treatment as Usual: Extended Follow-up for

描述（由申请人提供）：本项目的主要目标是研究使用非法药物的青少年门诊治疗的长期效果。具体来说，本研究建议对379名参加了最近完成的有效性试验的年轻人样本进行后续评估，以检查短期战略家庭治疗（BSFT）和常规治疗（TAU）在物质使用率、外化行为（包括逮捕和性危险行为）、限制环境中的时间（例如，住院治疗、拘留）和家庭功能改善方面的不同效果。提出的研究旨在填补关于门诊治疗对青少年吸毒者的长期影响的知识空白，并对家庭治疗和社区机构常规治疗的进一步研究具有启示意义。此外，这项研究与社区机构特别相关，因此，对门诊青少年药物滥用治疗的实践具有广泛的影响。此外，拟议的样本包括相当数量的非裔美国人和西班牙裔参与者。因此，研究结果将与西班牙裔和非洲裔美国青少年吸毒者相关，并将允许评估干预措施（BSFT和TAU）对特定种族/族裔群体的长期影响：非洲裔美国人，西班牙裔和非西班牙裔白人。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal this project is to examine the long-term effects of outpatient treatments for illicit drug using adolescents. Specifically, this study proposes to complete a follow-up assessment with a sample of 379 young adults that participated in a recently completed effectiveness trial to examine the differential effectiveness of brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) and treatment as usual (TAU) in the rates of substance use, externalizing behaviors (including arrests and sexually risky behaviors), time in restricted settings (e.g., residential treatment, detention), and improvements in family functioning. The proposed study is designed to fill a knowledge gap regarding the long term effects of outpatient treatments for adolescent drug users and has implications for furthering research on both family therapy as well as treatment as usual in community agencies. Moreover, this study is particularly relevant for community-based agencies, and - as such - has broad implications for practice in outpatient adolescent substance abuse treatment. Also, the proposed sample includes a sizable population of African American and Hispanics participants. As such, the findings will be relevant for Hispanic and African American adolescent drug users, and will permit the evaluation of the long term impact of the interventions (BSFT and TAU) on specific racial/ethnic groups: African Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The primary goal this project is to examine the long-term effects of different outpatient treatments (brief strategic family therapy and treatment as usual) for illicit drug using adolescents. Given the stability and persistence of drug use over time, examining distal outcomes is critical for identifying effective strategies for preventing adult drug dependent careers. Moreover, the results of this study will have broad implications for practice in outpatient adolescent substance abuse treatment, and will be essential in furthering research on both family therapy as well as treatment as usual in community agencies.