Psychosocial effects adolescents

Given the extent of the use of cannabis in the general population and the medical and psychological consequences of its use, particularly the clinically significant psychosocial impairment, there is a great public health need to develop safe and effective therapeutic interventions. The need to develop treatments targeting adolescents and young adults is particularly relevant in view of their disproportionate use patterns. ... 

For most children and adolescents, multimodal therapies are recommended. However, if antidepressant medications are used alone, psychosocial maintenance strategies should be implemented to help the patient manage inner and interpersonal conflicts, improve coping and social skills, deal with the psychosocial and personal scars left by the depression, and improve academic and social functioning. The reduction of family stress, promotion of a supportive environment, and the effective treatment of parents and siblings with psychiatric disorders may also help diminish the risk for... 

The irony is that early and effective treatment intervention in a disease process often lessens its long-term sequelae. Unrecognized or ineffectively treated childhood and adolescent psychiatric conditions are likely to have profound and lifelong effects on the patient s psychosocial development. They can interfere with the development of self-esteem, with family and peer relationships, with school performance, and, later, in the workplace. The consequences are likely to persist even after the resolution of the acute episode, profoundly affecting further psychosocial adjustment ( 30). Inadequate treatment of pediatric psychiatric disorders may lead to... 

Inasmuch as these studies were retrospective, the possibility always exists that the ability of the child and the family to stay in treatment was a more critical variable than medication. The available evidence, however, suggests that effective treatment of ADHD may have long-lasting effects on the psychosocial adjustment of the patient. In a related follow-up study, conduct disorders in adolescents almost exclusively occurred in those who retained features of ADHD ( 86). Conceivably, effective intervention early in childhood may alter the course, decreasing the likelihood of development of conduct disorder as an adolescent and antisocial personality disorder with its various complications (e.g., alcohol and drug abuse, criminality) as an adult. 

Despite the diagnostic challenges that remain in trying to understand the nature of MDD in children and adolescents, advances in its treatment has progressed considerably since the last edition of this textbook. Over this interval, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have superseded TCAs as the treatment of first choice based both on efficacy and safety considerations. As in adults, specific psychotherapies (cognitive therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and interpersonal therapy) may be as effective as antidepressant medication, at least in mild to moderate depression in children and adolescents ( 111, 112). Also, evidence indicates that depression in children and adolescents may be more influenced than is depression in adults by psychosocial variables such as peers and family, as well as other environmental factors (113). 

Gage, H., Hampson, S., Skinner, T. C., Hart, J., Storey, L., Foxcroft, D., Kimber, A., and Cradock, S. (2004). Educational and psychosocial programmes for adolescents with diabetes Approaches, outcomes and cost-effectiveness. Patient Educ. Conns. 53, 333-346. 

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