Clinical trial NCT00344474: Personality-targeted Interventions for Adolescent Alcohol Misuse
Official title: A New School-based Drug Prevention Programme for Teenagers: Interventions That Target Personality Risk for Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE2
PHASE3
Conditions: Alcohol Abuse
Drug Abuse
Depression
Panic Disorder
Conduct Disorder
Keywords: Prevention
Addiction
Personality
Adolescents
Binge Drinking
Alcohol Abuse
Comorbidity
Depression
Anxiety
Antisocial Behaviour
Lead sponsor: King's College London
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Action on Addiction
First posted: 2006-06-26
Enrollment: 710
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 13
Maximum age (years): 16
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Personality targeted cognitive behavioural interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol and drug misuse in adult substance abusers (Conrod et al., 2000) and adolescent drinkers (Conrod et al, in press). As these interventions target personality traits linked to risk for addictive and non-addictive mental disorders, the aim of this study is to examine the extent to which this approach can prevent and/or reduce alcohol and drug misuse as well as have an impact on the onset or severity of emotional and behavioural problems in young people.

Detailed description: Personality targeted cognitive behavioural interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol and drug misuse in adult substance abusers (Conrod et al., 2000) and adolescent drinkers (Conrod et al, in press). As these interventions target personality traits linked to risk for addictive and non-addictive psychopathology, the aim of this study is to examine the extent to which this approach is effective in preventing and/or reduce alcohol and drug misuse and concurrent psychiatric symptoms in young people.

Method: 875 Participants aged 13-16 years will be screened for personality risk in school-wide self-report assessments. Participants will be randomly assigned to a personality matched cognitive-behavioural intervention or a no-intervention control. The personality matched interventions will target four personality risk factors: negative thinking (NT), anxiety sensitivity (AS), impulsivity (IMP) and sensation seeking (SS). Outcome evaluation will occur 6, 12, 18 and 24 months post intervention. Primary outcomes will be time to onset and severity of alcohol and illicit substance use and misuse. Secondary outcome variables will include depressive symptoms, panic attack rates, reckless and antisocial behaviour. Secondary analyses involving genetic, cognitive and coping skills measures will examine moderators of treatment effects.

Hypotheses: It is expected that personality-targeted interventions will have personality-specific effects on aspects of addictive and non-addictive psychopathology to which each personality risk group is most susceptible.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* secondary school student
* scoring one standard deviation above the school mean on one of 4 personality dimensions.
* Able to provide consent from parent/guardian for participation in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

* None

Primary outcomes:
measure: Time to onset and severity of drug use
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Frequency and Quantity of Drinking
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Problem drinking symptoms
timeFrame: 2 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychiatric symptoms (depression, panic anxiety, antisocial behaviours), coping skills, motives for drinking
timeFrame: 2 years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
Study officials:
affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry
name: Patricia J. Conrod, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Stewart SH, Conrod PJ, Marlatt GA, Comeau MN, Thush C, Krank M. New developments in prevention and early intervention for alcohol abuse in youths. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005 Feb;29(2):278-86. doi: 10.1097/01.alc.0000153547.34399.e8.
citation: Conrod PJ, Pihl RO, Stewart SH, Dongier M. Validation of a system of classifying female substance abusers on the basis of personality and motivational risk factors for substance abuse. Psychol Addict Behav. 2000 Sep;14(3):243-56. doi: 10.1037//0893-164x.14.3.243.
citation: Conrod PJ, Stewart SH, Pihl RO, Cote S, Fontaine V, Dongier M. Efficacy of brief coping skills interventions that match different personality profiles of female substance abusers. Psychol Addict Behav. 2000 Sep;14(3):231-42. doi: 10.1037//0893-164x.14.3.231.
citation: Comeau N, Stewart SH, Loba P. The relations of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and sensation seeking to adolescents' motivations for alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Addict Behav. 2001 Nov-Dec;26(6):803-25. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4603(01)00238-6.
citation: Edalati H, Afzali MH, Castellanos-Ryan N, Conrod PJ. The Effect of Contextual Risk Factors on the Effectiveness of Brief Personality-Targeted Interventions for Adolescent Alcohol Use and Misuse: A Cluster-Randomized Trial. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2019 May;43(5):997-1006. doi: 10.1111/acer.14016. Epub 2019 Apr 8.
citation: Topper LR, Castellanos-Ryan N, Mackie C, Conrod PJ. Adolescent bullying victimisation and alcohol-related problem behaviour mediated by coping drinking motives over a 12 month period. Addict Behav. 2011 Jan-Feb;36(1-2):6-13. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.08.016. Epub 2010 Sep 24.
citation: O'Leary-Barrett M, Mackie CJ, Castellanos-Ryan N, Al-Khudhairy N, Conrod PJ. Personality-targeted interventions delay uptake of drinking and decrease risk of alcohol-related problems when delivered by teachers. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010 Sep;49(9):954-963.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.04.011. Epub 2010 Jul 31.
citation: Conrod PJ, Castellanos-Ryan N, Strang J. Brief, personality-targeted coping skills interventions and survival as a non-drug user over a 2-year period during adolescence. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010 Jan;67(1):85-93. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.173.