Pharmacotherapy for Substance Use Disorders in Youths

Abstract

Despite recent advances in psychosocial treatments targeting adolescent substance use disorders (SUD), effect sizes generally remain small to modest, and few treatment-enrolled youth achieve sustained abstinence. Among adults, SUD-targeted pharmacotherapies have emerged as viable options to complement psychosocial treatments and enhance outcomes. Developmental differences exist in pharmacodynamics and treatment-response, and comparatively little research has focused on SUD-targeted pharmacotherapies for youth. This article provides a review and synthesis of relevant published clinical trials focusing on youth SUDs and co-occurring/comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders. It offers recommendations for clinical practice and further research based on the limited findings to date.