Protocol for a Systematic Review: Recovery Schools for Improving Well‐Being among Students in Recovery from Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Prior research has documented the multiple negative effects from prolonged and heavy substance use, including diminished memory and cognitive abilities, reduced grades, a decreased likelihood of finishing high school or attending post-secondary education, problems attaining or keeping employment, higher rates of more acute and chronic health conditions than those without a history of use, poverty, and family and social problems ( Brown & Tapert, 2004; Homel, Thompson, & Leadbeater, 2014; Larm, Hodgins, Larsson, Samuelson, & Tengström, 2008; Leslie et al., 2016; Lisdahl, Wright, Kirchner-Medina, Maple, & Shollen, 2014; Menasco & Blair, 2014; Newcomb & Bentler, 1988; Patrick, Schulenberg, & O'Malley, 2016; Silins et al., 2014; Squeglia, Jacobus, & Tapert, 2009; Thoma et al., 2011). Individuals with an SUD demonstrate an increasing need for more of the substance to achieve the same effect (i.e., tolerance) and taking the substance for longer or in larger doses and experience unsuccessful attempts to quit using the substance. [...]recovery from an SUD is a process involving many factors, the hallmark of which is reduction or complete abstinence of use. Approaches for Addressing Youth in Recovery from Substance Use Disorders Given the biological, psychological, and social developmental changes in adolescence, it is important to attend to distinct developmental issues of adolescence when focusing on adolescents in recovery ( Weisz & Hawley, 2002). [...]for youth diagnosed with an SUD there are a variety of adolescent-specific treatment options available, which fall within a spectrum of varying intensity from early intervention, such as screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT: Lack of engagement in treatment is due to a variety of factors including denial about the extent of the problem, motivation, emotional reasons, life stressors, financial or insurance barriers, peer influence and social norms, and access and availability of substances combined with triggers to use ( Gonzales, Anglin, Beattie, Ong, & Glik, 2012; Wisdom, Cavaleri, Gogel, & Nacht, 2011), and has been linked to community factors such as median family income ( Jones, Heflinger, & Saunders, 2007).