 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
|
| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Natasha Slesnick, PhD and Jillian Prestopnik. Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, University of New Mexico, 2650 Yale SE, Suite 200, Albuquerque, NM 87106, 505-925-2394, tash@unm.edu
Research suggests that runaway and homeless youth may be unique in the range and intensity of associated problems. Many studies, both local and national, document high rates of substance use, teenage pregnancy, mental illness, violence and school failure. Given the high level of risk for health and psychological problems, there is a great need for reconnecting youth to the broader social system. Most shelter-residing youth have family members involved in their life. Thus, an ecologically-based family therapy (EBFT) approach was evaluated against service as usual (SAU) through the runaway shelter. Runaway youth between the ages of 13 and 17 were recruited through two southwestern runaway shelters. Youth were randomly assigned to service as usual (SAU) through the shelter (N=59) or Ecologically-Based Family Therapy (EBFT) (N=65). Youth assigned to EBFT received 15 treatment sessions, and all youth were evaluated at 3, 9 and 15 months. As predicted, adolescents in the EBFT group reported significantly fewer days illicit drug and alcohol use relative to the SAU adolescents in the 15 month of follow-up, F (2, 130) = 3.60, p < .03, and parent’s conflict tactics was also reduced, F (2, 130) = 3.81, p < .02. However, improvement over time was found in both conditions for reduced number of homeless days, depression, overall delinquency, and family conflict. These youth and families are amenable to change, and longitudinal work is needed to identify critical periods for intervention to prevent family disintegration leading to chronic youth homelessness.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse Treatment, Runaways
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.