Parents of teens with substance use problems are experiencing a great deal of stress, which may, in turn, lead to less effective coping when faced with difficult situations. In my book, "What's Wrong with My Teen? Finding Answers to Teenage Addiction and Family Crisis", I also emphasize that addiction and recovery are family affairs and that parents are under pressure like never before when it comes to raising teens.
What I appreciate about this study by Recovery Research Institute is that it tested whether interventions designed for parents could help increase their coping skills and decrease their levels of stress. It can be challenging for parents and caregivers to accept that changing themselves changes their situation. And by changing themselves and the situation, this encourages the creation of conditions for teens to change.
The Recovery Research Institute is a leading nonprofit research institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital, dedicated to the advancement of addiction treatment and recovery. They enhance recoery through science.
Here's a summary of the bottom line of this study.
Parents in Coping Skills Treatment showed a greater increase in coping skill effectiveness from pre to post-treatment compared to those in 12-Step Facilitation, with both groups outperforming the
Delayed Treatment Control.
For individuals & families seeking recovery: Parents and caregivers of teens with substance use issues may benefit from skills-based interventions or connections to family-focused mutual-help organizations like Al-Anon, which can reduce stress and improve skills, more effectively than no treatment.
For scientists: Research indicates that behavioral, skills-based interventions and Community Reinforcement and Family Training improve treatment outcomes and parental well-being similarly to 12-step interventions. Future studies should explore mechanisms behind these results and assess substance use outcomes among patients.
For policy makers: Continued funding is essential for examining the mechanisms and cost-effectiveness of family-focused interventions, which provide better target outcomes and comparable well-being improvements to 12-step programs.
For treatment professionals and systems: Skills-based interventions or linking caregivers to mutual-help organizations can reduce stress and improve skills in parents of teens with substance issues. Adolescent treatment programs should consider offering parent-specific groups, regardless of the teen's treatment status.
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