Although initiation of abstinence in treatment is common among adolescents, sobriety is frequently challenged as soon as they return to the pre-treatment environment.
Some adolescent treatment outcome studies report that as many as 70 percent of adolescents may still have significant substance abuse problems at 12 months after treatment.
Thus, there appears to be a need to develop long-term programs that integrate developmentally appropriate primary and aftercare interventions and, when feasible, provide recovering adolescents with prosocial alternatives in the post-treatment environment.
Ask Yourself:
Do you drink because you have problems? To relax?
Do you drink when you get mad at other people, your friends or parents?
Do you prefer to drink alone, rather than with others?
Are your grades starting to slip? Are you goofing off on your job?
Did you ever try to stop drinking or drink less and fail?
Have you begun to drink in the morning, before school or work?
Do you gulp your drinks?
Do you ever have loss of memory due to your drinking?
Do you lie about your drinking?
Do you ever get into trouble when you're drinking?
