Citation

Wombacher K, Darnell WH, Harrington NG, Scott AM, Martin CA. Health Commun. 2022; 37(1): 48-54.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10410236.2020.1816309

PMID

32867547

Abstract

Child and adolescent psychiatrists are uniquely positioned to discuss substance use with high risk patients; however, there has been little research about these conversations and their characteristics. To identify communication strategies for navigating conversations about substance use with adolescent patients, we conducted 21 in-depth interviews with practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists.

FINDINGS from this study identify four strategies that child and adolescent psychiatrists reported as being successful: expressing empathy, avoiding resistance, honoring autonomy, and managing family involvement. In addition to describing these strategies, we briefly describe a theoretical framework that might help to explain the perceived success of these strategies, and we offer recommendations for how to apply our findings to improve psychiatric practice.

Language: en