NCJ Number
202343
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2003 Pages: 337-346
Date Published
September 2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article reviews studies on the effectiveness of brief interventions (BI) with adolescents in reducing alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use.
Abstract
The use of BI with adolescents has been advocated but its effectiveness with this population has not been widely examined. The authors identified 11 studies of BI with adolescents that involved 3,734 participants. Eight of the studies examined the effectiveness of motivational interviewing, while the remaining three studies provided personalized health information. Follow-up periods for these studies ranged from between 6 weeks to 24 months. Seven of the studies reported outcomes for alcohol interventions, while four reported outcomes for other drugs. The effect size from the eight alcohol interventions was described as significant but small. The two tobacco interventions had a very small effect, while the two multi-drug interventions had a medium to large effect but involved few participants. The authors concluded the BI use was beneficial with adolescent substance abusers across a diverse range of settings and clients. BI conferred a small effect on alcohol consumption and tobacco consumption. Although BI seems to have had a beneficial impact on adolescents who abuse multiple substances, the sample size was small and therefore, the effectiveness of BI for multiple substance abusers merits further study. Tables, references, appendix