Improving initial session attendance of substance abusing and conduct disordered adolescents: A controlled study

The present controlled study was the first to demonstrate a method of impro ving first session attendance in a population of conduct disordered and sub stance abusing adolescents. The results indicated that an intensive interve ntion involving the youth and parent was more effective in improving sessio n attendance than a less intensive intervention that excluded the youth's i nvolvement. The intensive intervention resulted in greater attendance to th e first appointment (60% vs. 89%), greater attendance to appointments throu ghout the study (57% vs. 83%), and greater promptness to sessions that were attended (5.8 mins. vs. 0.8 mins.). Implications of this study are discuss ed in light of these results.