Family-based intervention program for parents of substance-abusing youth and adolescent

En ocasiones los profesionales de la salud, no hemos prestado la suficiente atención al núcleo familiar de nuestros clientes. Esto tal vez haya sido por qué nos hemos centrado en la mayoría de los casos, en los síntomas y signos del problema intentando dar con una solución “individual y relativamente rápida”.
No obstante, en una gran proporción de casos, he podido observar, que el núcleo familiar del cliente puede convertirse en un aliado más que válido para acelerar y asentar el proceso terapéutico. Esta ayuda puede producirse incluso cuando el cliente no quiera asistir a una terapia psicológica ¡Parece increíble verdad! ¿Cómo va a mejorar un paciente sin asistir a terapia? Pues bien, según algunas investigaciones (incluida la nuestra), es posible que pacientes resistentes al cambio inicien su proceso de mejora con la ayuda de sus familiares y seres queridos.
Os dejo el resumen de nuestro artículo y os animo a leerlo en Journal of Addiction. Aquí os dejo el enlace:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4320720
Abstract
The use of drugs among adolescents/youth often results in a high degree of distress for the family members who live with them. This in turn can lead to a deterioration of mental psychological health, hindering any attempt to successfully cope with the situation. The goal of our research was to study the effect of the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) program on parents of adolescents/youth drug users.
Study volunteers (N=50) consisted of parents from Valencia (Spain) that were divided into two groups. The experimental group (n=25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters exhibited problems with drug use and the constructed non-causal baseline group (n=25) was made up of parents whose sons and daughters did not show any substance abuse problems. For both groups, self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI) and anger (STAXI-II) were evaluated before and after the application of the CRAFT program.
Results show a significant improvement in the experimental group’s self-esteem, depression, anger state and a decrease in negative moods. These changes in parents produce a positive effect on their substance user sons and daughters:  of the 25 participants, 15 contacted specialized addiction treatment resources for the first time.