Perceived parental support and adolescent motivation for substance use change: a preliminary investigation

Background: The benefits of motivation to change may be enhanced depending on environmental factors, such as perceived parental support.Objective: We propose a quadrant model of perceived parental support and adolescent motivation with the following four possibilities: High perceived parent support/Low adolescent motivation; High perceived parent support/High adolescent motivation; Low perceived parent support/Low adolescent motivation; Low perceived parent support/High adolescent motivation. The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of each quadrant within a randomized clinical trial of adolescent substance use treatment.Method: Data for these analyzes were from the DATOS-A study. We used chi-square and one-way ANOVA tests to examine differences between the four quadrants on demographic factors, treatment engagement, and substance use treatment outcomes.Results: We found that participants in Quadrant 2 (high perceived parent support/high adolescent motivation) were the most likely to report that treatment was important (x(2)=34.34 (6), p<.001), and participants in Quadrant 3 (low perceived parent support/low adolescent motivation) reported the worst substance use outcomes across a variety of variables. In particular, adolescents in Quadrant 3 reported the most days of alcohol use in the previous month (F(3, 248.46)=9.99, p<.001), which was nearly double that of adolescents within Quadrant 2.Conclusions: We found preliminary support of our conceptualization of perceived parental support and adolescent motivation, as adolescents in Quadrant 2 had higher treatment importance, and adolescents in Quadrant 3 reported the most severe substance use outcomes.