Motivation and Skills for Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol/Ethanol (THC/ETOH+) Teens in Jail

Although substance abuse is a major problem among incarcerated teens, little is known about
ways to effectively treat this population. Elucidation of effective therapies for reducing
substance use among incarcerated teens is important for a number of reasons. For example, a
number of empirical studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between substance use
and a variety of delinquent and/or dangerous activities, including driving under the
influence, perpetration or falling victim to violent crime, and engaging in risky sexual
behavior, as well as increases in recidivism to illegal behavior. Unfortunately, substance
abuse treatment frequently is unavailable to teens in the juvenile justice system, and when
it is available, treatment often is provided in group format using untested interventions,
or to teens that are unmotivated to change their behavior.

The objective of the present study is to investigate ways to enhance group therapy
engagement and reduce substance use (specifically targeting alcohol and marijuana) and
related behaviors (e.g., injury, sexual risk-taking, and illegal behavior) among juvenile
offenders. Both Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) have
independently demonstrated success in reducing adolescent substance use in both incarcerated
and non-incarcerated samples, thus a motivation and skills-based intervention such as the
combination MI/CBT approach proposed here, might prove effective in attaining these goals.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Adolescents will be eligible if:

- in the year prior to incarceration they either a) drank alcohol or used
marijuana at least once per month or b) binge-drank (> 5 for boys, > 4 for
girls) during any two week period

- they drank or used marijuana in the four weeks before the offense for which they
were incarcerated; or

- they used either substance in the four weeks before they were incarcerated.
Special attention will be given to recruitment of girls and members of minority
groups, with periodic reminders to social workers to alert participants in these
groups and their families to our project.

Exclusion Criteria:

- They do not meet the above inclusion criteria or informed consent is not obtained
from parent or guardian.