Multimodal DELTA Therapy for Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders: Development and Evaluation.

Background: In order to address the lack of standardized treatment programs for adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs), we developed a manualized multimodal intervention (DELTA). DELTA focusses on use reduction and abstinence from substances, as well as alleviation of SUD symptoms. Importantly, DELTA includes treatment modules for co-occurring disorders. The goal of this pragmatic trial was to assess if DELTA can be conducted in adolescent SUD patients and if participation is related to reductions in SUD symptoms and substance use.

Method: Allocation to either DELTA intervention group (N = 85) or to a waiting-list control group (WL, N = 61) was based on therapist recommendation. Self-report measures were used as primary outcomes (substance use, DUDIT - Drug Use Disorder Identification Test) and secondary outcomes (YSR - Youth Self Report).

Results: Analyzed participants were predominantly adolescent males (62%) aged M = 16.1 years (SD = 1.2) at baseline. On average, participants attended M = 7.7 of the 16 sessions (SD = 5.1). Substance use and substance use problems were descriptively decreased after the intervention, with small to medium insignificant effects in favor of DELTA vs. WL. Self-reported anxious/depressive psychopathologies and social withdrawal were also reduced at follow-up, with insignificant advantages for DELTA vs. WL.

Conclusions: The interpretation of otherwise promising effects on SUD-related and depression-related variables is limited by the small sample size. Nonetheless, the DELTA intervention is feasible in SUD outpatient treatment and may be further implemented and evaluated. Disclosure of interest: No pharmaceutical grants were received in the development of this study. This work was supported by a project grand of the saxonian ministry of science and culture.