A Controlled Evaluation and Description of Individual-Cognitive Problem Solving and Family-Behavior Therapies in Dually-Diagnosed Conduct-Disordered and Substance-Dependent Youth

There is a strong comorbid relationship between conduct and substance disorders in youth. However, there is an absence of controlled studies that have explicitly examined treatment efficacy in this dually-diagnosed population. In the present study, 56 such youth were randomly assigned to receive either individual-cognitive therapy or family-behavioral therapy. Subjects in both intervention groups demonstrated significant improvements in their conduct and reductions in their use of illicit drugs from pretreatment to post-treatment, and these results were maintained at follow-up. Measures of youth satisfaction with parents, parent satisfaction with youth, and overall mood of these youth demonstrated similar improvements and closely corresponded with improvements in standardized measures of conduct and drug use. No significant differences were found in conduct or reductions of illicit drug use between subjects in the two intervention conditions at post-treatment, or at 6-month follow-up. Study implications are discussed in light of these results.