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Psychopathic Traits, Substance Use, And Motivation To Change: The Effectiveness Of Motivational Interviewing With At-Risk Adolescents, Christopher Thomas Alan Gillen

Dissertations

The current study is the first known study to investigate the effectiveness of Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a motivational enhancement intervention in at-risk adolescents with psychopathic traits and substance use (SU) problems. Further, it examined whether such an intervention can improve problematic behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency) and treatment responsivity deficits (i.e., motivation to change) associated with psychopathy and SU. The effectiveness of MI was examined using a randomized treatment-control design in which adolescents were assigned to either a three-session group-based MI intervention and a residential treatment or a group receiving only the residential treatment without the MI component. Participants were …