367
Group and Family Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Adolescent
Depression and Substance Abuse: A Case Study
John E Curry and Karen C. Wells, Duke University Medical Center
John E. Lochrnan, University of Alabama
W. Edward Craighead, University of Colorado
Paul D. Nagy, Duke University Medical Center
Cognitive behavior therapy ( CBT) has been demonstrated to be an effective acute intervention for adolescent depression. However,
studies to date of CBT with depressed adolescents have excluded those with comorbid substance abuse. Treatment of comorbid sub-
stance abuse requires that the targets of CBT be expanded to include social cognitive and family factors associated with the substance
use disorder We developed an integrated group and family therapy model of intervention for adolescents with both depression and
substance abuse. The case of R.P. illustrates the application of this treatment model. Treatment includes skills training in the context
of a closed, mixed-gend~ twice-weekly adolescent group and weekly family therapy sessions to apply new .skills in the family context.
Central clinical issues and core cognitive and behavioral correlates of t~P. "sdepression and substance abuse are delineated as they oc-
curred during the course of treatment. Treatment was associated with improvements in mood and reductions in substance use.
U
'NIPOLAR DEPRESSION and substance use disorders
are two of the three most common forms of psy-
chopathology among adolescents (Lewinsohn et al., 1993).
Comorbidity of unipolar depression and substance use dis-
orders is also high, with approximately 20% to 25 % of com-
munity adolescents with one of the disorders having had
the other type during his or her lifetime (Lewinsohn et al.).
Comorbidity appears to be higher among adolescents in
treatment (Bukstein, Glancy, & Kaminer, 1992; Hovens,
Cantwell, & Kiriakos, 1994). Adolescents with these two
types of disorders are at elevated risk for several negative
outcomes, including escalation into more severe substance
abuse, suicidal ideation, attempts and completed suicides
(Brent, 1995; Henry et al., 1993; Levy & Deykin, 1989). In
light of the frequency and impact of comorbid depression
and substance use disorders, it is essential to develop and
to test treatments for adolescents with both disorders.
There is now considerable evidence in support of cogni-
tive behavior therapy (CBT) as efficacious acute treatment
for adolescent unipolar depression (Kaslow & Thomp-
son, 1998; Reinecke, Ryan, & DuBois, 1998). Both Lewin-
sohn's more behavioral model and Beck's cognitive therapy
have been successfully applied with depressed adolescents
(Brent et al., 1997; Clarke, Rohde, Lewinsohn, Hops, &
Seeley, 1999; Lewinsohn, Clarke, Hops, & Andrews,
1990). These studies have shown that CBT compares fa-
vorably to a wait-list condition or to alternative acute
treatments and leads to remission from the depressive ep-
Cognitive and Behavioral Practice 8, 367-376, 2001
1077-7229/01/367-37651.00/0
Copyright © 2001 by Association for Advancement of Behavior
Therapy. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
isode in approximately 50% to 65% of adolescents by the
end of acute treatment. However, all adolescent depres-
sion treatment studies to date have excluded substance-
abusing teens. Therefore, it is not clear that CBT would
be effective with dually diagnosed adolescents.
Evidence in support of CBT for adolescent substance
abuse is less direct than that supporting CBT for adoles-
cent depression. Adult intervention studies include suc-
cessful models of CBT for substance use disorders (Car-
roll et al., 1994). Cognitive behavioral prevention programs
have reduced future rates of adolescent substance abuse
(Botvin, Baker, Dusenbury, Botvin, & Diaz, 1995; Loch-
man, White, Curry, & Rumer, 1992). Behavioral family
therapy appears effective in reducing teen substance use
(Azrin et al., 1994). Taken together, these literatures sug-
gest that an expanded and modified CBT might be effec-
tive with adolescents who are both depressed and abusing
substances. Therefore, our group of investigators began
to develop a CBT specifically for these young people. The
treatment development process and results of pilot test-
ing will be described more fully elsewhere (Curry, Wells,
Lochman, Craighead, & Nagy, 2001). In this paper, we
will first describe the'modifications in treatment that
were introduced to address both depression and sub-
stance abuse, and then describe the acute (12 weeks)
treatment of an adolescent carried out in the context of
this therapy development program.
Modifying Treatment Content of CBT for
Dually Diagnosed Adolescents
CBT for adolescent depression addresses social, cogni-
tive, and family processes that are associated with depres-