Development of a skill training program for parents of substance-abusing adolescents

This report discusses the development of a coping skill training program fo r parents of substance-abusing adolescents and presents preliminary data on the effects of the program on parent functioning and adolescent substance use. The behavioral-analytic model of program development was used to sampl e representative problematic situations experienced by parents of substance -abusing adolescents, obtain an effectiveness-scaling of responses to these situations, and derive alternate forms of a situational role-play measure of parental coping. These situations and scoring guidelines were then used to create the skill training program. Parents of substance-abusing adolesce nts not in treatment subsequently were randomly assigned in a pilot investi gation to either a skill training or delayed treatment condition. Skill tra ining resulted in significant improvement in parental coping skills relativ e to delayed treatment. Moderate to large improvement in the parent's repor t of their own functioning, family communication, and the teen's marijuana use also favored the skill training group. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. A ll rights reserved.