Brief Substance Use Intervention for Youth in Teen Court
Condition: Alcohol or Other Drugs Use
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 1/Phase 2

Summary: 
      Youth involved in the juvenile justice system have multiple problems, including an earlier
      onset of alcohol and drug use and higher rates of alcohol and drug use than their peers in
      the general population. This 4.5 year study will develop and evaluate a new group
      intervention for youth who have committed a first time alcohol or drug offense. Teens will be
      randomized to receive either usual care or the new group intervention. Teens will complete a
      baseline, post-test (when they complete the intervention, which could vary for each teen but
      is typically around 6-8 weeks), and a 3-month follow-up survey upon completion of the
      intervention. The investigators will examine outcomes for a variety of behaviors, including
      alcohol and drug use and assess whether there are differences between the teens who received
      usual care and the teens who received the new group intervention.
    

Detailed description: 
      It is well known that youth involved in the juvenile justice system have multiple problems,
      including an earlier onset of alcohol and drug use and higher rates of alcohol and drug use
      than their peers in the general population. Several recent innovative treatment approaches
      have been developed to address substance use and the multiple problems that these at-risk
      youth experience. What is less well documented, however, are innovative approaches to treat
      youth who are first time alcohol or drug offenders and who may just be beginning to
      experience problems due to their substance use. The investigators propose a 4.5 year study to
      adapt and test an efficacious group intervention among teens who have committed a first time
      alcohol or other drug misdemeanor offense. These teens have been referred by the juvenile
      Probation Department to a Teen Court program because they have not been found to need more
      serious intervention such as treatment or detention. The objectives of the proposed research
      are to: Aim 1. Design a developmentally sensitive intervention curriculum in which the
      investigators (a) utilize our previous work and components from relevant existing approaches
      targeting at-risk adolescents, (b) establish participant acceptance, and (c) establish
      feasibility of intervention delivery with the participants, providers and the proposed
      setting; Aim 2. Implement a pilot test of the revised intervention with an adolescent
      population of first time offenders in which the investigators (a) demonstrate our ability to
      retain sufficient numbers of this population; (b) ensure intervention fidelity throughout the
      course of the study and (c) evaluate participant satisfaction, group engagement, and group
      climate; Aim 3. Examine the impact of the intervention on cognitive and behavioral outcomes
      to determine (a) whether clinically significant changes in expectancies, perceived prevalence
      of peer use, self-change efforts, alcohol consumption, marijuana and other drug use, and
      related consequences occur; (b) if reductions occur, estimate the likely effect sizes, and
      (c) explore the mechanism of change for decreases in substance use and consequences through
      mediation analyses. Our study seeks to narrow the gap between research and practice and
      builds upon recommendations by NIDA's Blue Ribbon Task Force by conducting research in a
      nonacademic setting with a population at high risk for alcohol and drug abuse. This study
      will extend selective intervention research for at-risk youth, as it will be one of the first
      to examine the impact of a theoretically based selective intervention for first time juvenile
      Alcohol or Other Drug (AOD) offenders.
    

Intervention name(s): Usual care; Project Free Talk
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): alcohol and drug education; motivational interviewing alcohol and drug program
Other intervention name(s): ADAG
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: adolescents; alcohol; drugs; delinquency; intervention