Mandated Treatment for Troubled Adolescents and Substance Use Disorder: Identifying and Breaking Through Defensiveness and Denial

Nelson J. Tiburcio*, Scarlett L. Baker and Kristin S. Kimmell

Mandated Treatment for Troubled Adolescents and Substance Use Disorder: Identifying and Breaking Through Defensiveness and Denial. We present two brief de-identified treatment case studies, aptly demonstrating defensiveness and denial from a clinical standpoint. Additionally, we review cases demonstrating high-levels of defensiveness and denial in mandated teen clients, and ethical ways to break through that barrier to treatment engagement.

For this study, we review treatment mandated teens’ SASSI-3 results. We discuss how their responses demonstrate defensiveness and denial, possibly brought on by the treatment mandate experience. Please contact The SASSI Institute for reprints of articles that present additional procedural and more elaborate methodological discussions on the development and validation of the adolescent SASSI-A3 substance use disorder screening inventory.

This study entailed minimal risk to participants, in that study participation consisted of providing anonymous responses on a screening survey regarding alcohol and drug-related experiences
and attitudes. The risk of harm is thus no greater than would be encountered in standard psychological testing.

The mandated treatment sample consisted of teens referred from the following types of programs for further assessment and possible treatment. Thirty-four percent (34%) were criminal justice system referrals, social service programs (12%), medical professionals (2%), and other/unknown (52%).

This paper focused primarily on the importance of identifying Defensiveness and denial in mandated clients, but clinical experience with the SASSI has produced subjective clinical observations of correspondence between other scale scores. In the future, we will be conducting further research verifying the utility of other scales on the SASSI-A3 instrument to provide a fuller
understanding of their use, interpretation, and value when used properly within multiple treatment settings among adolescents.


Soc Behav Res Pract Open J
. 2022; 7(1): 1-7. doi: 10.17140/SBRPOJ-7-132

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