Evaluation of the multimodal DELTA therapy for adolescents with substance use disorders: an exploratory pilot trial


Journal article


Lukas A. Basedow, Soeren Kuitunen-Paul, Melina F. Wiedmann, Veit Roessner, Yulia Golub
Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 14, 2024


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APA   Click to copy
Basedow, L. A., Kuitunen-Paul, S., Wiedmann, M. F., Roessner, V., & Golub, Y. (2024). Evaluation of the multimodal DELTA therapy for adolescents with substance use disorders: an exploratory pilot trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1284342


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Basedow, Lukas A., Soeren Kuitunen-Paul, Melina F. Wiedmann, Veit Roessner, and Yulia Golub. “Evaluation of the Multimodal DELTA Therapy for Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders: an Exploratory Pilot Trial.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 14 (2024).


MLA   Click to copy
Basedow, Lukas A., et al. “Evaluation of the Multimodal DELTA Therapy for Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders: an Exploratory Pilot Trial.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 14, 2024, doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1284342.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{basedow2024a,
  title = {Evaluation of the multimodal DELTA therapy for adolescents with substance use disorders: an exploratory pilot trial},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {Frontiers in Psychiatry},
  volume = {14},
  doi = {10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1284342},
  author = {Basedow, Lukas A. and Kuitunen-Paul, Soeren and Wiedmann, Melina F. and Roessner, Veit and Golub, Yulia}
}

ABSTRACT
Background
In order to address the lack of manualized treatment programs for adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs), we developed a manualized group intervention (DELTA). DELTA focusses on substance use reduction and abstinence as well as alleviation of SUD symptoms via additional modules for co-occurring disorders. The goal of this exploratory trial was to assess if DELTA can be conducted in adolescent SUD patients and if participation is related to reductions in substance use, SUD-related problems, and further psychopathologies.

Method
We recruited adolescents at a psychiatric outpatient unit, which were then allocated to either DELTA intervention group (N = 85) or to a waiting-list control group (WL, N = 61) based on parental decision to start a therapy or not. Self-report measures were used as primary outcomes (substance use via interview, use-related problems via DUDIT—Drug Use Disorder Identification Test) and secondary outcomes (psychopathologies via YSR—Youth Self Report). T-tests and Pearson correlations were used to analyze between-group differences across time.

Results
On average, participants attended M = 7.7 (SD = 5.1) of the 16 sessions. Substance use and use-related problems regarding all substances but nicotine was decreased after the intervention, with small to medium not significant effects in favor of DELTA. Self-reported psychopathologies were also reduced at follow-up, with non-significant advantages for DELTA.

Discussion
DELTA showed small effects on SUD-related and depression-related variables. However, the interpretation is limited by the small sample size. Nonetheless, the DELTA intervention is viable in SUD outpatient treatment and will be further evaluated.