Drug Abuse Treatment and Comprehensive Services for Adolescents

Abstract

Data from two national studies of treatment spanning two decades—Treatment Outcome Prospective Study (TOPS), 1979 to 1981, and Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies for Adolescents (DATOS-A), 1993 to 1995—provided a comparison of treatment and services provided to 261 TOPS and 1,519 DATOS-A intreatment adolescent patients in a cross-modality sample of 24 TOPS and 31 DATOS-A programs. The authors used patient self-reports of treatment needs and services received to compare unmet needs for six services. Findings showed a general decline over treatment eras in services received that was only partially offset by significant decreases in some self-reported service needs in DATOS-A. Unmet needs increased significantly over treatment eras for specific services, including psychological, family, employment, and financial services. Potential explanations include changes in treatment access and decreases in program resources for services.