The best summary we’ve found on the subject was written by our friend Bill White. It can be found here.
Some of the highlights are below:
Participation in 12-step programs has been linked to improved long-term recovery rates of adolescents with substance use disorders, butadolescents participate in AA/NA at lower rates than do adults(Kelly & Myers, in press).
AA/NA participation rates are higher when adolescents are inprofessional helping relationships that strongly encourage suchparticipation (Kelly & Myers, in press).
Adolescents participating in 12-step meetings with members closer to their own age attend more meetings, are involved in more active step work, and have better long-term recovery outcomes (Kelley, Myers & Brown, 2005).
Adolescents respond more to the general group support dimension of 12-step groups than to spiritual aspects of the program or active step work (Kelly, Myers & Rodolico, 2008).