title: Understanding motivation for substance use treatment: the role of social pressure during the transition to adulthood.
abstract: Research has shown that social pressure is related to treatment motivation and plays an important role in treatment engagement in adults with problematic substance use. Despite the shifts in autonomy and decision-making in emerging adulthood, the factors affecting treatment motivation (e.g., readiness to comply with treatment) during this period have been largely ignored. In this cross sectional study, 134 youth (83 males and 51 females) presenting to an outpatient substance abuse program completed questionnaires regarding substance use history, mental health, social pressure to reduce use and enter treatment, and treatment motivation. Age was positively related to identification of internal reasons for seeking treatment and negatively related to external coercive social pressures as a motivator for treatment. Peer pressure accounted for significant variance in Identified (e.g., personal choice and commitment to the program) and Introjected (e.g., guilt about continued substance use) treatment motivation. Family pressure was related only to External treatment motivation when peer pressure was considered in the regression model. These results highlight the importance of emerging adult peers as motivators of youths' treatment seeking. Limitations, directions for future research and treatment implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1V6. Electronic address: ilana.goodman@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.affiliation: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1V6.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peterson-Badali
authors.affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D019456:Health Transition; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D012931:Social Environment; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult