skip to main content
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Back Button

MET/CBT-5 for youth marijuana use

Substance Use Disorders: Treatment for Youth
  Literature review updated February 2015.

This is a five-session treatment composed of two individual sessions of Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) and three weekly group sessions of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for youth who misuse substances. The MET sessions focus on increasing their motivation and commitment to change. In the CBT sessions, participants learn skills to cope with problems and meet needs in ways that do not involve turning to marijuana or alcohol.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Crime
Any criminal conviction according to court records, sometimes measured through charges, arrests, incarceration, or self-report.
 0 1 174 -0.295 0.198 17 -0.295 0.136
Substance use disorder
A non-specified alcohol or drug use disorder. Typically, a collection of different types of disorders reported by study authors. 
 0 1 174 -0.171 0.198 17 -0.171 0.388

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Ramchand, R., Griffin, B.A., Suttorp, M., Harris, K.M., & Morral, A. (2011). Using a cross-study design to assess the efficacy of motivational enhancement therapy-cognitive behavioral therapy 5 (MET/CBT5) in treating adolescents with cannabis-related disorders. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 72(3), 380-9.