Maltreatment Issues and Outcomes of Adolescents Enrolled in Substance Abuse Treatment

Although they are mandated reporters and work regularly with youth who have experienced abuse and trauma, many substance abuse treatment programs do not systematically screen for or address child maltreatment issues. This special issue provides a collection of articles that consistently demonstrate the feasibility of systematically screening for victimization among adolescents entering these programs and documents that multiple co-occurring types of victimization are actually the norm. Other articles in the section examine how levels of abuse and traumatic victimization are associated with aspects of adolescent substance use disorders, traumatic distress symptoms, co-occurring somatic and health problems, HIV risk behaviors, and a victim-to-abuser spiral. Finally, the articles address how this might affect treatment matching across levels of care. This introduction provides an overview of the articles and then highlights some of the key implications of this collective body of work for practice, policy, and future research.