The adolescent community reinforcement approach (A-CRA) as a model paradigm for the management of adolescents with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders

Background: Integrated treatment for youth with substance use disorders (SUDs) and co-occurring psychiatric disorders is recommended; however, there are few studies that have evaluated integrated treatment approaches.

Methods: This paper includes a brief review of cognitive-behavioral and family therapies, since they have been demonstrated to be effective treatments for the disorders that commonly co-occur with substance use. It also describes how an integrated treatment paradigm has been implemented using one Empirically Supported Treatment, the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA).

Results: There is existing research that supports the use of several A-CRA procedures to treat substance use and commonly co-occurring psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions: In the absence of further research, it is reasonable in the interim to train clinicians in treatments that incorporate components that have been found to be effective for both substance use and commonly co-occurring psychiatric disorders. These treatments can then be adapted as needed based on an individual youth's set of problems. Further research is needed to test treatments for various combinations of SUDs and psychiatric disorders (i.e., depression, trauma-related problems, conduct disorder/behavior problems, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]).