The Adaptation and Evaluation of the WHO's ASSIST-linked Brief Intervention to Khat-Using Ethiopian University Students
Condition: Khat Abuse
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The leaves of the khat tree (catha edulis) are traditionally chewed in the countries around
      the Horn of Africa. They contain the amphetamine-like alkaloid cathinone and their use can
      produce a Substance Use Disorder. The researchers intent to validate an Amharic and an Oromo
      version of the WHO's ASSIST-linked Brief Intervention among khat-using Ethiopian university
      students. In an RCT, khat using students of Jimma University with initial motivation to stop
      or cut down khat use will be randomised to either an intervention or a control group. In the
      intervention group, the WHO's ASSIST-linked BI will be delivered in a single session by
      trained local counsellors. In the control group, participants will receive a
      neuropsychological assessment (Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, SPM; Raven, 1972). Khat
      use, the neuropsychological variables and psychiatric symptoms will be assessed before the
      intervention and two weeks after it. Additionally, the researchers will measure the
      participants resistance during the session. The control group will receive the intervention
      after the post test. In order to study state variables that influence brief intervention
      effectivity, e.g. by increasing or reducing resistance, the researchers randomise subjects in
      each study arm to several short pre-interventions that are based on Gollwitzer's empirically
      well established Mindset Theory of Action Phases (for summary: Gollwitzer & Keller, 2016).
      This means, before delivering the ASSIST-linked BI (intervention group) or before the SPM
      assessment (controlgroup) a specific psychological state will be induced by a brief writing
      task that theoretically should affect the openness to the intervention: (1) implemental
      mindset, (2) deliberative mindset, (3) no mindset induction. The researchers expect that khat
      use will be reduced more in the intervention condition compared to the control condition and
      that induced states influence the effectiveness of the intervention.
    


Intervention name(s): ASSIST-linked Brief Intervention; Induction of Deliberative Mindset; Induction of Implemental Mindset
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The intervention follows the WHO's ASSIST-linked Brief Intervention (Humenik et al., 2012; Humeniuk et al., 2010), a manualized one-session intervention that can be categorised as belonging to the Screening and Brief Intervention approach. It follows the FRAMES model (Bien et al., 1993) and contains techniques from Motivational Interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 1991).; Based on the Mindset Theory of Action Phases (Gollwitzer & Keller, 2016), a brief writing task (writing down pros and cons for an unresolved personal problem of the participant's own choice) is used to induce a specific psychological state in which the individual is cognitively open to process new information.; Based on the Mindset Theory of Action Phases (Gollwitzer & Keller, 2016), a brief writing task (writing down steps necessary to implement a personal decision of the participant's choice that has not yet been put into practice) is used to induce a specific psychological state in which the individual is cognitively not open to process new information.
Other intervention name(s): Screening and Brief Intervention; Induction of Open Mindset; Induction of Closed Mindset
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Factorial Assignment
Intervention model description: Randomized Controlled Trial
Masking: Triple (Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Catha Edulis; Khat; Qat; Khat Use Disorder; Screening and Brief Intervention; ASSIST