The long-term objectives of the proposed line of research are: 1.) to enhance the understanding of the cognitive features of the relapse process of youth with substance use disorder,(SUD), and 2.) evaluate the proposed developmental model of substance use relapse for adolescents with the eventual goal of developing more effective relapse prevention programs. The present proposal is designed to meet the objectives of the Exploratory/Developmental grants (R21) program to encourage new, exploratory and developmental research leading to larger, more intensive projects. In pursuit of that goal, the primary aim of this proposal is to develop a methodology for assessing the cognitions of adolescents when faced with elapse situations after treatment for SUDs. This exploratory/developmental study consists of two phases. First, we propose to develop an experimental procedure to assess the cognitions of youth at-risk for a return to substance use after treatment in social contexts typically associated with relapse. The second is to validate this procedure on a sample of substance use disordered youth after treatment for substance use disorders and a sample of community youth without substance use disorders. While past research has identified the situational features and contexts in which adolescents return to substance use after treatment for SUD (Brown, Vik & Creamer, 1989; Anderson, Frissell & Brown, in press), no experimental paradigms exist to identify what specific cognitions are present in vivo for youth within these situations. A secondary aim of the proposed project is to examine the relations between cognitive features elicited by the experimental task as they relate to the developmental model of adolescent substance use relapse for SUD and nondisordered youth. This developmentally-focused process model of youth relapse integrates the traditional Cognitive-Behavioral model of Relapse (Marlatt & Gordon, 1985) with Social-Information Processing theory (Crick & Dodge, 1994), highlighting the influence of peer involvement in youth return to substance use. An R01 application is planned to follow from this developmental project. In terms of public health, the development of age appropriate substance use interventions and relapse prevention programs for adolescents must be informed by research examining the devlopmental needs of this population. The overarching goal of this line of inquiry is to help youth maintain abstainence from substance invovlement. ? ? ?
