Preventing Impaired Driving Among Adolescents

Substance-Related Disorders

impaired driving

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of webCHAT, a single-session web-intervention, on reducing impaired driving among adolescents receiving behind-the-wheel training at driver education programs.

Alcohol and marijuana (AM) are the most commonly used substances among adolescents in the U.S. The consequences of AM use are significantly higher relative to use of either substance alone. This study builds on effective interventions that have demonstrated reductions in alcohol and/or marijuana use and reduced consequences one year later, and proposes to adapt one of those interventions, CHAT, to the web (web-CHAT). The investigators will evaluate the efficacy of web-CHAT among 15.5-17-year-old adolescents (n=150) recruited when teen participants are attending behind-the-wheel training. The study has the potential to promote public welfare by improving adolescent health outcomes and reducing risky driving behaviors that can have substantial monetary and social costs, as well as by providing unique insight into what mediates reduced risky driving attitudes behaviors among those in the intervention. The study is innovative because it is for both youth who are at risk for substance use as well as those who are not, and it is delivered during a teachable moment when adolescents receive driver's education. Finally, this study can provide unique insights about the efficacy of web-CHAT to reduce marijuana initiation, use, and risky driving attitudes in the context of a changing marijuana policy climate. A 3-year study is proposed to test the feasibility of research procedures in a driver education setting and pilot the efficacy of web-CHAT. The investigators will test whether web-CHAT reduces alcohol and/or marijuana initiation or use compared to teens in UC, at three and six-month follow-up.

United States