Substance abuse among homeless youth is twice that of school youth. Runaway youth also report a broader range and higher severity of substance-related, mental health and family problems relative to school youth. Shelters for runaways are overcrowded, and most shelters focus exclusively on crisis intervention, and are therefore not equipped to treat youth for drug, alcohol, family and related problems. To date, few studies have examined treatment effectiveness with this population. Given the high level of risk for health and psychological problems and their associated long-term social costs, there is a great need for identifying potent interventions. The PI examined the effectiveness of Ecologically-Based Family Therapy (EBFT) with substance abusing runaway youth in runaway shelters, through a Stage I FIRST award trial. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic evaluation of a substance use and mental health treatment with this population. The proposed study is a Stage II clinical trial examining outcome for three theoretically distinct interventions that have empirical bases: Community Reinforcement Approach, Motivational Interviewing and EBFT. The relative effectiveness and therapeutic change process of the proposed interventions for runaway youth will be evaluated 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months after treatment, and will include measures of substance use, family relations, and adolescent functioning.
Study aims also will investigate how, if at all, treatment compliance and satisfaction mediate youth response to the three treatments. This project will also evaluate the cost-savings potential associated with each treatment intervention.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA016603-06
Application #
7246667
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Chambers, Jessica Campbell
Project Start
2003-09-05
Project End
2010-06-30
Budget Start
2008-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$307,074
Indirect Cost
Name
Ohio State University
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Education
DUNS #
832127323
City
Columbus
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
43210
Bartle-Haring, Suzanne; Slesnick, Natasha; Carmona, Jasmin (2015) Reciprocity in Adolescent and Caregiver Violence. J Fam Violence 30:149-159
Guo, Xiamei; Slesnick, Natasha; Feng, Xin (2014) Reductions in depressive symptoms among substance-abusing runaway adolescents and their primary caretakers: a randomized clinical trial. J Fam Psychol 28:98-105
Slesnick, Natasha; Guo, Xiamei; Brakenhoff, Brittany et al. (2013) Two-year predictors of runaway and homeless episodes following shelter services among substance abusing adolescents. J Adolesc 36:787-95
Slesnick, Natasha; Erdem, Gizem; Bartle-Haring, Suzanne et al. (2013) Intervention with substance-abusing runaway adolescents and their families: results of a randomized clinical trial. J Consult Clin Psychol 81:600-14
Slesnick, Natasha; Reed, Sandra; Letcher, Amber et al. (2012) Predictors of parental monitoring among families with a runaway adolescent. Am J Orthopsychiatry 82:10-8
Slesnick, Natasha; Guo, Xiamei; Feng, Xin (2012) Change in Parent- and Child-Reported Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors Among Substance Abusing Runaways: The Effects of Family and Individual Treatments. J Youth Adolesc :
Patton, Rikki; Slesnick, Natasha; Bantchevska, Denitza et al. (2011) Predictors of follow-up completion among runaway substance-abusing adolescents and their primary caretakers. Community Ment Health J 47:220-6
Erdem, Gizem; Slesnick, Natasha (2010) That which does not kill you makes you stronger: runaway youth's resilience to depression in the family context. Am J Orthopsychiatry 80:195-203
Slesnick, Natasha; Dashora, Pushpanjali; Letcher, Amber et al. (2009) A Review of Services and Interventions for Runaway and Homeless Youth: Moving Forward. Child Youth Serv Rev 31:732-742
Slesnick, Natasha; Bartle-Haring, Suzanne; Erdem, Gizem et al. (2009) Troubled parents, motivated adolescents: predicting motivation to change substance use among runaways. Addict Behav 34:675-84