Research on Outpatient Adolescent Treatment for Comorbid Substance Use and Internalizing Disorders

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Anxiety Disorder; Substance-Related Disorders; Depressive Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Treatment As Usual; Behavioral: OutPatient Treatment for Adolescents (OPT-A)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT01117753

MUSC19301

1R01DA025616-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Adolescent substance abuse results in significant negative outcomes and extraordinary costs for youths, their families, communities, and society. Moreover, rates of psychiatric comorbidity among substance abusing youth range from 25% up to 82%, and youths with a dual diagnosis are more than twice as costly to treat compared to those with no comorbidity. The applicant principal investigator recently completed a pilot project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse focused on developing and piloting a psychosocial treatment specifically for youth presenting for outpatient treatment with co-occurring substance use and internalizing (i.e., mood and/or anxiety) problems. Results were promising with the experimental group exhibiting significantly less substance use and more rapid reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms compared to the control group. The proposed research is a randomized clinical trial (RCT) to compare the experimental treatment (OutPatient Treatment for Adolescents; OPT-A) to an "active placebo" on key clinical indices from pre-treatment through 18 months. The proposed RCT (n = 160) employs the treatment manual, quality assurance protocol, and therapist training protocol developed and successfully tested in the pilot study, to evaluate the efficacy of OPT-A for youth referred to outpatient treatment of co-occurring substance use and internalizing problems. The following outcomes will be evaluated: drug use; mental health; behavioral, school, peer, and family functioning; and consumer satisfaction. The intervention addresses one of the more prevalent and most challenging, costly, and understudied presenting problems among adolescent outpatients. If successful, this research could provide a considerable contribution in the treatment field for youth with co-occurring substance use and internalizing disorders.

Enrollment: 140 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 10 to 17 years of age
• Residing with at least one adult caregiver who serves as a parent figure
• In need of treatment for a Substance Abuse or Dependence Disorder
• In need of treatment for an Axis I Mood Disorder and/or Anxiety Disorder

Exclusion criteria

• Pervasive Developmental Disorder
• Active Psychotic Disorder
• Severe or profound mental retardation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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140 participants in 2 patient groups

OPT-A

Experimental group

Description:

OPT-A is an outpatient family-based treatment for co-occurring substance use and internalizing disorders

Treatment:

Behavioral: OutPatient Treatment for Adolescents (OPT-A)

Treatment as Usual

Active Comparator group

Description:

Treatment as usual in a community based mental health center

Treatment:

Behavioral: Treatment As Usual