Methamphetamine use among treatment-seeking adolescents in Southern California: Participant characteristics and treatment response

This study examined participant characteristics and treatment response among substance-abusing adolescents who received outpatient treatment (N = 305, 70.2% adolescent male, 55.3% White, 33.1% Latino, average age of 16 years). Chart reviews were performed on existing intake and discharge assessments between 1999 and 2003 from two Matrix Institute on Addictions treatment clinics. Analyses comparing methamphetamine (meth)-using (n = 90) and non-meth-using (n = 215) adolescents revealed that adolescent females and older youth were more likely to use meth. Meth users reported greater psychosocial dysfunction and higher rates of substance use at treatment discharge compared with non-meth users. Suicidal ideation and substance use during treatment were predictors of early treatment dropout among the total sample. Meth-using adolescents may need enhanced treatment programming, because they appear to present for treatment with higher levels of dysfunction. Implications are discussed in terms of developing strategies that minimize drug use and maximize treatment response among substance-abusing adolescents.