Recovery High School Attendance Effects on Student Delinquency and Substance Use: the Moderating Role of Social Problem Solving Styles

Sep 5, 2020Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research

How Attending Recovery High School Relates to Student Delinquency and Substance Use, Depending on Their Social Problem Solving Style

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Abstract

Students attending recovery high schools (RHSs) reported less frequent delinquent behavior while intoxicated and fewer days of substance use compared to those in non-RHSs.

A total of 260 adolescents participated, with 143 enrolled in RHSs and 117 in non-RHSs.
RHS attendance is associated with reduced delinquency and substance use outcomes at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups.
Negative problem solving styles may influence the effectiveness of RHS attendance on substance use outcomes.
Students with maladaptive problem solving styles experienced minimal benefits from attending RHSs.

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Recovery high schools (RHSs) provide educational programming and therapeutic support services for young people in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs). The objectives of this study were to examine whether students with SUDs who attended RHSs report less delinquency and substance use than students with SUDs who attended non-RHSs, and how students' social problem solving styles might moderate those associations. Participants were students from a longitudinal quasi-experimental study of adolescents who enrolled in high schools after receiving treatment for SUDs. The propensity-score balanced sample included 260 adolescents (143 in RHSs, 117 in non-RHSs) enrolled in schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Texas (M age = 16; 83% White; 44% female). Negative binomial regression models were used to compare delinquency and substance use outcomes for RHS and non-RHS students at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups. The results indicated that students attending RHSs after discharge from SUD treatment reported less frequent delinquent behavior while intoxicated, and fewer days of substance use relative to students attending non-RHSs. Negative problem solving styles moderated the effect of RHS attendance on substance use outcomes, with RHSs providing minimal beneficial effects for those students endorsing maladaptive problem solving styles. We conclude that RHSs offer a promising continuing care approach for adolescents in recovery from SUD problems, but may vary in their effectiveness for students with impulsive, careless, or avoidant problem solving styles.

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