ISSUES IN THE TREATMENT OF ANTISOCIAL ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE-ABUSERS

Many adolescent substance abusers exhibit other forms of problem behav ior, ranging from mild conduct problems to serious criminal offenses. In this article, the authors review previous work and present new data on antisociality and substance use from their research programs, whic h have focused on comorbidity in adolescents. These studies have exami ned rates of conduct disorder and other indices of antisociality in su bstance abuse treatment and psychiatric samples; correlates of antisoc ial personality disorder in adolescent substance abusers; the relation ship between antisociality and relapse; and antisocial adolescents' se lf-reported reasons for use, beliefs about the effects of alcohol, and perceptions of family functioning. The clinical implications of the r esearch are discussed and recommendations for treatment planning and f uture research are offered.