“What I got from treatment”: Predictors of treatment content received and association of treatment content with 6-month outcomes in adolescents

Some adolescents show a greater response to treatment than others. We examined the extent to which amount of treatment content received was associated with certain patient characteristics (e.g., readiness to change) and severity of substance involvement at 6-month follow-up. Adolescents (N = 107) recruited from outpatient addiction treatment reported at follow-up on the extent to which treatment addressed addictive behaviors (e.g., getting motivated to change) and other concerns (e.g., depression). Contrary to prediction, readiness to change did not predict amount of treatment content received, but greater number of inpatient days during follow-up predicted greater endorsement of addictive behaviors content. At 6 months, more addictive behaviors content received was associated with fewer alcohol symptoms. For both alcohol and marijuana, greater endorsement of treatment content related to other concerns was associated with greater substance involvement at 6 months, suggesting the importance of evaluating and addressing other concerns because youth may present with problems in multiple domains.