Group Versus Individual Therapy in Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment: Finding Interventions that Work

Abstract

This study explored the effectiveness of individual therapy versus group therapy in the treatment of adolescents in an outpatient substance abuse treatment clinic. Chart review was used to collect information from adolescent male and female clients. Independent samples t-tests, chi-square analyses, and ANOVA tests were used to determine the relationship between interventions and success in treatment. Clients receiving individual therapy only in both The Seven Challenges program and the eclectic counseling category had greater decreases in substance use and had more successful discharges in fewer overall treatment sessions. There is need for further research with a larger sample size to confirm the findings.