Changes in parenting practices and adolescent drug abuse during multidimensional family therapy

The nature and extent of changes in parenting and the link between parental subsystem changes and reduction in adolescent substance abuse and problem behaviors were examined in a sample of 29 parents and their drug-abusing adolescents. Participants completed 16 sessions of multidimensional family therapy. Over two thirds of the parents showed moderate to excellent improvement in parenting. Chi-square goodness-of-fit analyses revealed a statistically significant association between improvement in parenting and reduction in adolescent drug use and behavior problems. Results of this exploratory study provide qualified support for a fundamental tenet of family therapy - that change in the parental subsystem is related to improvement in the problem behavior of adolescents.