Preventing relapse. Guidelines for the pediatrician.
Preventing relapse into substance use means first helping the teenager to develop a state of recovery. This involves completing a First Step of a 12-Step program, whereby the teenager accepts that drugs and alcohol have been destructive in his or her life and that moderate use is impossible. Thus, abstinence is necessary in a productive life. Parental support is also established. The two more common causes of relapse are being in the presence of alcohol- and drug-using peers and the presence of co-existing psychiatric problems.
Jaffe
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Department of Psychiatry, More House School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
D000293:Adolescent; D000359:Aftercare / Q000379:methods*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics; D010379:Peer Group; D012008:Recurrence; D012114:Residential Treatment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome