Motivational Interviewing and Neuroimaging With Adolescents

Motivational interviewing introduced a conversation about alcohol use, and the personally-experienced consequences of problem drinking. The MI sessions explored youths' stories around their substance use, the factors in youths' lives that support problem drinking (e.g., what they like about drinking), and the consequences of their recent or previous problem drinking (e.g., getting in trouble). Youth were provided personalized feedback about how their problem drinking compared to age-matched norms in the U.S. The ultimate goal of the MI sessions was to engage youth in a thoughtful conversation about their problem drinking with an eye to bolstering and supporting youths' own inherent drive for behavior change.

Brief Adolescent Mindfulness introduced a conversation about what mindfulness is, and ways that it might be personally-relevant to adolescents' current experiences. This manualized treatment introduced concepts of eastern thought in a manner articulated to adolescents. Treatment included a discussion of factors in the youth's life that could be positively impacted by using or engaging mindful approaches (e.g., current experiences of stress) and a link to how mindful approaches might be applicable or relevant to the adolescent's problem drinking. The ultimate goal was to engage youth in a thoughtful conversation about BAM and how eastern thought and mindful approaches could unburden some aspects of their current lived experiences.