Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Margareth da Silva. Assessment and brief interventions for adolescents with substance abuse. Rev. bras.ter. cogn. [online]. 2005, vol.1, n.1, pp. 69-74. ISSN 1808-5687.

Recent studies have pointed high levels of prevalence of psychiatric disorders among adolescent drug users. In this article we make a theoretical revision of the comorbidities and brief interventions directed at adolescents, presenting data referring to the pilot study: “Special Attention Project to the Drug User Adolescent Offender”. We evaluated 39 adolescents, mean age 16 years old. All the adolescents were marijuana users, of which 83% were also tobacco users, and 54% alcohol users. Of the 39 individuals evaluated, 19 adolescents (48,7%) have parents with drug problems. Another important data was the presence of comorbidities, especially with Disruptive Disorders: 37% filled criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, 30% for Conduct Disorder, and 17% for Oppositional Defiant Disorder. We chose a Brief Intervention in the Motivational Interviewing approach. The adolescents answered the URICA scale (University Rhode Island Change Assessment) and 84% were in the precontemplation stage. In the developed therapeutical process, it was verified that there have been significant changes in the precontemplation stage, showing an awareness of how drug problems can affect their lifestyle. Based on these findings, we recommend a careful evaluation and the use of the Motivational Interviewing approach to take care of this demand.

Keywords : Adolescence; Drugs; Treatment.