M-Health for Teen Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Pilot

M-Health for Teen Substance Abuse and Mental Illness: Component III

The study is exploring the ease and ability to integrate a mobile application in outpatient behavioral health treatment. There are two major aims to the study: 1) Determine feasibility and acceptability of integrating a mobile app into behavioral health treatment for adolescents with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, and 2) identify initial signal of effect on engagement and/or treatment outcomes among youth who use the mobile app.

The purpose of the trial will be to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology (rate of recruitment, retention at 4-month follow-up, study procedures) as well as estimates of effect on key variables (patient engagement, patient symptoms, use of e-tools, treatment efficiency) in preparation for future studies in this line evaluating the utility of the mobile app.

Inclusion Criteria for Adolescents:

• Aged 14-17 years
• Current substance use disorder (SUD)
• Co-occurring mental health disorder
• Treatment-seeking
• English-speaking (Only English documents will be used throughout the course of this research study)

Exclusion Criteria for Adolescents:

• Younger than 14 or older than 17
• Endorsement of active suicidal or homicidal ideation
• Active mania or psychosis
• Significant cognitive disability, developmental delays, or pervasive developmental disability
• No history of outpatient psychotherapy.

Inclusion Criteria for Providers

• Clinician delivering outpatient dual diagnosis treatment (i.e., for co-occurring SUDs and mental health disorders)
• Therapist with at least a Master's degree in a counseling related field