Motivational Interviewing for Adolescent Substance Use: A Review of the Literature

Elizabeth Barnett, Steve Sussman, Caitlin Smith, Louise A. Rohrbach,
Donna Spruijt-Metz
PII: S0306-4603(12)00265-1
DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.07.001
Reference: AB 3769

A recent review by Macgowan and Engle (2010) reports that Motivational Interviewing (MI) has met the American Psychological Association’s criteria for promising treatments of adolescent substance use. MI is a client-centered counseling style directed at exploring and resolving ambivalence about changing personal behaviors (Miller & Rollnick, 2002). It differs from other treatments in that its purpose is not to impart information or skills. Rather, it emphasizes exploring and reinforcing clients’ intrinsic motivation toward healthy behaviors while supporting their autonomy. The first meta-analytic review of MI’suse with adolescents shows an overall small effect size (d = .173, 95% CI [.094, .252] N = 21) (Jensen et al., 2011). Theoretically, MI appears to be a good fit with adolescents’ developmental need to exert their independence and make decisions for themselves, while it respects their heightened levels of psychological reactance and coincides with the development of their decision-making skills (Baer & Peterson, 2002; Naar-King & Suarez, 2011).  1-s2.0-S0306460312002651-main.pdf