Can parents help a teen go cannabis-free?
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In one small randomized trial, 69 teens aged 14 to 18 and their parents were split into two groups. Both got the same counselling and twice-weekly tests.
One group was rewarded for showing up, and parents got weekly talks. The other was rewarded only for cannabis-free tests, and parents learned a monitoring plan for home.
During the program, 50% vs 18% went 10 weeks or more cannabis-free, and the longest run was 7.6 vs 5.1 weeks.
Sources
Stanger C et al. Drug Alcohol Depend 2009. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.07.009
What the study says
- “...enrolled 69 adolescents, aged 14-18, and randomly assigned them to one of two treatment conditions. Both conditions received individualized Motivational Enhancement and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT) and a twice-weekly drug-testing program.”
- “The experimental contingency management condition involved a clinic-delivered, abstinence-based incentive program, and weekly behavioral parent training sessions that included a parent-delivered, abstinence-based, substance monitoring contract.”
- “The experimental condition showed greater marijuana abstinence during treatment, e.g., 7.6 vs. 5.1 continuous weeks and 50% vs. 18% achieved > or = 10 weeks of abstinence.”
- “The comparison condition included an attendance-based incentive program, and weekly psychoeducational parent sessions.”
- “EXP youth had more mean weeks of documented continuous marijuana abstinence during treatment than CONTROL youth (EXP: 7.6 (SD=5.6) vs. CONTROL: 5.1 (SD=4.5)”
- “For each substance-negative specimen and report during Weeks 3–14, EXP participants earned vouchers with a monetary value.”
Where it falls short
These results cover the program itself, not the later check-ins.
Unaddicted keeps every day you’ve earned, even after a slip.
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