| In recognition of differences in presenting needs and treatment responses of various subgroups of the adolescent substance abusing population, this study breaks ground from the traditional concept of utilizing a "one size fits all" evidence-based practice for treating adolescents by revealing the importance of tailoring treatments to adolescent subgroups. The subgroups studied were defined by age, gender, race, and special needs including, co-occurring mental illness, juvenile justice history, parental addiction, and those of higher severity of substance abuse. The interventions studied included group treatment, family treatment, case management, multi-service programming, vocational treatment and behavioral approaches. A quasi-experimental design was utilized and overall goal attainment was the dependent variable. Secondary client data from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) combined with data from a program-level survey of treatment practices was utilized. The sample consisted of 1150 adolescents, ages 12-20, from 27 OASAS-Licensed community-based programs.;Logistic Regression analyses demonstrated that adolescent subgroups differ significantly both in presenting problems and treatment response. Under the condition of the strong group intervention, girls under the age of 15 improved their odds of overall goal attainment by a factor of 10.6 and adolescents of parents with an addiction problem by 80 percent. The black cohort had improved odds of overall goal attainment by a factor of three associated with the strong vocational intervention. Latinos, as associated with the strong family intervention, improved odds of overall goal attainment by a factor of six. Those with higher severity of substance abuse, under the condition of the strong behavioral approach, had nearly three times better odds of overall goal attainment.;This study provides a framework for tailoring practices to improve results for adolescents, and argues for new research direction in the systematic development and testing of adolescent treatment models, utilizing tailored approaches. |
