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Parent Psychological Distress: A Moderator of Behavioral Health Intervention Outcomes among Justice‐Involved Adolescents
Author(s) -
Ng Mei Yi,
TolouShams Marina,
Galbraith Katharine,
Brown Larry K.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12512
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , moderation , psychology , distress , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , mental health , randomized controlled trial , substance use , psychological distress , psychiatry , medicine , surgery , social psychology
We examined whether pre‐existing parent psychological distress moderated juvenile offenders’ substance use, sexual risk, and mental health outcomes in a randomized trial. Forty‐seven parent–adolescent dyads received either Family‐based Affect Management Intervention ( FAMI ) for adolescent substance use and HIV prevention or adolescent‐only Health Promotion Intervention ( HPI ). Parents’ self‐reported distress at baseline significantly moderated adolescents’ self‐reported marijuana use and alcohol use but not other outcomes at 3 months postintervention, producing crossover interactions. FAMI outperformed HPI when parents reported high‐level distress, whereas HPI outperformed FAMI when parents reported low‐level distress. This finding that the relative efficacy of interventions depends on the severity of parent psychological distress could inform efforts to match substance‐using, justice‐involved adolescents with the intervention most likely to benefit them.