General Responsivity Adherence in Juvenile Drug Treatment Court: Examining the Impact on Substance-Use Outcome

• NCJ Number: 249648
• Journal: Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 46 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2016 Pages: 24-40
• Author(s): Lars Ericson Ph.D.
• Date Published: January 2016
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-IJ-CX-0008
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored)
• Award: Evidence-Based Treatment and Responsivity: Individual and Program Predictors of Recidivism During Juvenile Drug Court and Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment

Annotation

This study explored how the risk-need-responsivity models' general responsivity principle could be used to inform the effectiveness of the interventions provided to 1,176 participants in nine juvenile drug treatment courts (JDTCs) in the United States.

Abstract

Although the number of JDTCs in operation has increased since the first JDTCs were implemented in the 1990s, research continues to lag regarding the effectiveness of the treatment interventions that are provided. The current study measured responsivity adherence by using the number of general responsivity-adherent techniques included in each intervention. The results indicate that an increase in general responsivity adherence was associated with an increase in substance-use severity score. This suggests that the effect of the JDTC model on treatment outcomes could vary by the type of interventions provided to participants. In addition, the findings suggest the need to further specify adherence to the general responsivity principle, particularly among substance-involved juvenile offenders. (Publisher abstract modified)