Using motivational interviewing with children and adolescents: a cognitive and neurodevelopmental perspective

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an effective method of promoting change in adults, but its efficacy with children and adolescents is in the early stages of evaluation. The brevity of the intervention, documented effectiveness in adult populations and emphasis on motivating behavioural change have encouraged some researchers to test MI in educational settings. However, the number and quality of studies of MI with children and adolescents are limited, and it remains unclear whether MI is developmentally appropriate for children. This conceptual paper reviews cognitive and neurodevelopmental evidence of children's and adolescents' cognitive and social-emotional readiness for mental tasks thought to drive behavioural change in MI. Owing to the social context of MI, we place this research in a developmental framework using the social information processing network model of Nelson, Leibenluft, McClure, and Pine (2005). Based on these findings, we recommend continued testing of MI with students in middle and high schools but caution against using MI with elementary school students.