In the United States, young adults (ages 18-25) have the highest rate of substance use disorders. There is less known about the effectiveness of substance use treatment with this age group than any other age group. Recently, the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment funded eight treatment organizations to implement A-CRA with young adults. Because A-CRA was adapted from the adult CRA version, it was ideally suited to be modified for use with young adults. For example, young adults still living with a parent received the A-CRA family sessions, while those who lived with a significant other received the adult CRA relationship skills treatment procedures.

A recent study compared the effectiveness of CRA/A-CRA for young adults and adolescents. Over a six-month period of treatment and follow-up, results suggested that both age groups significantly decreased substance use and emotional problems. An important finding of this study was that young adults with histories of trauma reported significantly greater improvements in emotional health relative to adolescents who reported histories of trauma. For more information, see Garner, B.R., Hunter B.D., Smith, D.C., Smith, J.E., & Godley, M.D. (2014).