Computer-Assisted Brief Intervention
Condition: Substance Abuse
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Due to the "unmet needs" of substance abuse treatment among court involved but
      non-incarcerated (CINI) adolescents and their parents, reaching and engaging CINI adolescents
      in intervention programs addressing marijuana use is important given the significant risk
      that continued substance use poses for re-arrest and detention. This study will examine the
      feasibility of implementing one potential model for increasing access to substance use
      interventions in a juvenile justice setting by using: 1) a computer- assisted intervention
      addressing marijuana use for adolescents, and 2) a computer program on strategies to improve
      management of teens who misuse drugs for parents.
    

Detailed description: 
      Four out of five youth in the juvenile justice system show evidence of being under the
      influence during their offenses, and over half test positive for substances at the time of
      their arrest. Further, 92% of arrested juveniles who tested positive for drugs tested
      positive for marijuana. Although some treatment programs for juvenile offenders exist, most
      have focused on detained and incarcerated juveniles, who only represent one third of arrested
      youth. As a result, little is known about how to improve the continuum of care for the
      remaining two-thirds of this population, which consists of court involved but
      non-incarcerated youth (CINI). Court recommendations and referrals for CINI have mostly
      relied on outside community-based services, thus decreasing the likelihood CINI youth and
      their families will take the additional steps to seek intervention. Given that motivational
      interventions (MI) are brief, relatively easy to implement and have a greater reach than
      typical substance use treatment programs, researchers have recently directed their focus to
      interactive, computer-delivered MI protocols to further increase their reach as well as
      facilitate their implementation. Online interventions can be delivered at a lower cost, with
      less demand on staff time for training, and increased protocol fidelity, portability, and
      ease of use. While counselor-delivered MIs for adolescent substance use have been tested
      fairly widely, only a few studies have been published on the efficacy of computer-assisted
      MIs. Further, little research has focused on the efficacy of such interventions with
      marijuana using adolescents in general, and more specifically with CINI adolescents. In
      addition, combining such interventions for adolescents with brief parenting interventions is
      important but yet rarely implemented. Therefore, this application proposes to examine the
      feasibility and acceptability of integrating a computer-assisted,, brief intervention
      protocol into the juvenile intake procedures at the Rhode Island Family Court (RIFC) for
      marijuana using adolescents and their parents. Following an open trial of the brief protocol,
      , 80 adolescents who screen positive for marijuana use at juvenile intake will be recruited
      from the RIFC and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) a computer-assisted
      adolescent MI plus an online parenting program ; or 2) usual care. Outcomes will be examined
      at 3 and 6-month follow-ups. This small trial will provide some initial evidence regarding
      utility of this protocol with CINI youth and whether a larger, fully powered trial is
      indicated in the future.
    

Intervention name(s): Computer Counseling; Standard Care
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): two computer counseling online programs for a teen and a parent; A referral for substance use counseling
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: a computer-assisted adolescent motivational interview plus an online parenting program for substance abuse will be compared to usual care.
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment