Substance Use
Conditions
Keywords
substance use, adolescents, intervention, truancy
Brief summary
This application will provide a test of one potential model for adding substance use assessment and brief intervention into a truancy court program. The primary goal of this study is to determine whether a motivational intervention will reduce substance use among adolescents referred to truancy court for school attendance problems. In this treatment development application, an open trial with 20 families referred by truancy court will first be conducted. This trial will be used to adapt an existing motivational intervention to include material relevant to school attendance and performance. Then 100 families participating in the Rhode Island Truancy Court Program with adolescents between the ages of 13-16 years who report using substances will be randomly assigned to receive the experimental intervention plus standard truancy court procedures or psychoeducation plus standard truancy court procedures. The 2-session intervention protocol consists of an individual motivational interview plus the Family Check-Up (Dishion & Kavanagh, 2003), a family based motivational interview. The experimental protocol provides a thorough assessment of both individual and family strengths and weaknesses with respect to substance use prevention and school attendance/performance. Follow-up interviews will be conducted at 3 and 6 months.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFamily Check-up/ Individual MI
The 2-session intervention protocol consists of an individual motivational interview plus the Family Check-Up (Dishion & Kavanagh, 2003), a family based motivational interview. The experimental protocol provides a thorough assessment of both individual and family strengths and weaknesses with respect to substance use prevention and school attendance/performance.
BEHAVIORALIndividual and family psychoeducation
Families in PE will return for the same number of visits as the IMI and FCU sessions of the IMI/FCU condition. An interventionist will review a set of educational materials with the parents regarding teen SU use, truancy and risk behaviors and parenting a teenager. A similar set of materials will be reviewed with the adolescent
Sponsors
Brown University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
13 Years to 16 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. between the ages of 13-16 at the start of the project and living at home with at least one parent/guardian, 2. t- score of 70 or above on one of the diagnostic-oriented scales (internalizing or externalizing problems) on the Child Behavior Checklist (i.e. reach the clinical cut-off), 3. the child must report 6 or more incidences of substance use in the last 90 days, 4. parental consent and child assent are obtained.
Exclusion criteria
1. adolescent meets diagnostic criteria for substance dependence suggesting need for more intensive services, 2. the family is not able to speak and understand English or Spanish well enough to complete study procedures.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3 Month Follow-Up and 6 month follow-up | Number of Days in which a Participant Responded Yes to Marijuana use in the Past 90 Days range = 0 to 90; higher scores indicate more marijuana use |
| Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3 and 6 Month Follow-Up | If a Participant Responded Yes to Alcohol use in the Past 90 Days ; yes /no |
Countries
United States
Participant flow
Recruitment details
Recruited from Family Court
Participants by arm
| Arm | Count |
|---|---|
| Family Check-up/Individual MI Two session motivational intervention to improve parent monitoring and communication with respect to adolescent risk behavior especially substance use plus 2 session Individual Motivational Intervention for the adolescent
Family Check-up/ Individual MI: The 2-session intervention protocol consists of an individual motivational interview plus the Family Check-Up (Dishion & Kavanagh, 2003), a family based motivational interview. The experimental protocol provides a thorough assessment of both individual and family strengths and weaknesses with respect to substance use prevention and school attendance/performance. | 34 |
| Psychoeducation Two sessions of psychoeducation for parents regarding adolescent risk behaviors especially substance use
Individual and family psychoeducation: Families in PE will return for the same number of visits as the IMI and FCU sessions of the IMI/FCU condition. An interventionist will review a set of educational materials with the parents regarding teen SU use, truancy and risk behaviors and parenting a teenager. A similar set of materials will be reviewed with the adolescent | 35 |
| Total | 69 |
Withdrawals & dropouts
| Period | Reason | FG000 | FG001 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Study | Lost to Follow-up | 4 | 2 |
Baseline characteristics
| Characteristic | Family Check-up/Individual MI | Total | Psychoeducation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, Continuous | 15.7 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.4 | 15.8 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.3 | 16.0 years STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.2 |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Hispanic or Latino | 13 Participants | 21 Participants | 8 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Not Hispanic or Latino | 21 Participants | 48 Participants | 27 Participants |
| Ethnicity (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) American Indian or Alaska Native | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Asian | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Black or African American | 6 Participants | 16 Participants | 10 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) More than one race | 5 Participants | 12 Participants | 7 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) Unknown or Not Reported | 0 Participants | 0 Participants | 0 Participants |
| Race (NIH/OMB) White | 23 Participants | 41 Participants | 18 Participants |
| Region of Enrollment United States | 34 participants | 69 participants | 35 participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Female | 14 Participants | 27 Participants | 13 Participants |
| Sex: Female, Male Male | 20 Participants | 42 Participants | 22 Participants |
Adverse events
| Event type | EG000 affected / at risk | EG001 affected / at risk |
|---|---|---|
| deaths Total, all-cause mortality | 0 / 34 | 0 / 35 |
| other Total, other adverse events | 0 / 34 | 0 / 35 |
| serious Total, serious adverse events | 0 / 34 | 0 / 35 |
Outcome results
Primary
Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days
If a Participant Responded Yes to Alcohol use in the Past 90 Days ; yes /no
Time frame: 3 and 6 Month Follow-Up
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | Baseline | 20 Participants |
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3-month follow-up | 8 Participants |
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | 6-month follow-up | 11 Participants |
| Psychoeducation | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | Baseline | 26 Participants |
| Psychoeducation | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3-month follow-up | 17 Participants |
| Psychoeducation | Alcohol Use Days in Past 90 Days | 6-month follow-up | 18 Participants |
Primary
Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days
Number of Days in which a Participant Responded Yes to Marijuana use in the Past 90 Days range = 0 to 90; higher scores indicate more marijuana use
Time frame: 3 Month Follow-Up and 6 month follow-up
| Arm | Measure | Group | Value (MEAN) | Dispersion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | 6-month follow-up | 21 days | Standard Deviation 28 |
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | Baseline | 35 days | Standard Deviation 29 |
| Family Check-up/Individual MI | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3-month follow-up | 27 days | Standard Deviation 35 |
| Psychoeducation | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | Baseline | 45 days | Standard Deviation 39 |
| Psychoeducation | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | 3-month follow-up | 41 days | Standard Deviation 36 |
| Psychoeducation | Marijuana Use Days in Past 90 Days | 6-month follow-up | 41 days | Standard Deviation 35 |