This project is aimed at parents with a teenager who is already starting to use drugs. The study will test a new, innovative version of a brief intervention. This program will be home based rather than implemented by a counselor in a clinical setting. The stage I activities will involve manual development, parent training development, and a small feasibility study; Stage II involves an efficacy study. Two samples, 110 families each, will participate in the trial. Families will be assigned to either an intervention or control condition. The investigators hypothesize that the home-based intervention will be superior to the control condition. In addition, the investigators expect response to the intervention by the adolescent to be mediated by motivation, cognitions, problem solving, peer drug use, parenting skills and parent self-efficacy.
Little attention has been paid to the large group of adolescents who use substances but are not, or not yet, dependent and who could successfully reduce substance use through early intervention. Brief interventions (BI) that are based in cognitive-behavioral and motivational interviewing (CB-MI) strategies provide an option for such mid-level drug abusers (e.g., DSM-IV substance abuse disorder), and extant research on them suggests this approach can be effective with youth. Winters and colleagues have studied with controlled designs the efficacy of brief interventions for application to mild-to-moderate substance abusing adolescents. These studies have used the more traditional approach of counselor-led interventions. This program will be parent-led rather than directed by a counselor in a clinical setting. The stage I activities will involve manual development, parent training development, and a small feasibility study; Stage II involves an efficacy trial. Two samples, 110 families each, will participate in the trial. Families will be assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Data to quantify intervention effects will be obtained by interviewing adolescents and the target parent at multiple time points (baseline and, 3-, 6- and 12-months post baseline). The investigators hypothesize that the home-based intervention will be superior to the control condition. In addition, the investigators expect response to the intervention by the adolescent to be mediated by motivation, cognitions, problem solving, peer drug use, parenting skills and parent self-efficacy. Secondary analyses will focus on additional predictors of intervention effects, and analyses of parent adherence, parent acceptance, and of training adherence. The final product of the work will be a tested comparative intervention protocol that is shaped in an engaging and useful presentation format for use by parents.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
286
Parents will be trained through a 3 1/2-hour series on providing a 3-session drug and alcohol intervention program to their adolescent. The parent-led intervention will require parents to meet with their adolescent and work together to help strengthen family cohesiveness, enhance communication, and promote healthy life choices.
Printed fact sheets will be delivered to parents in a single two-hour session. These fact sheets will provide general drug-related information from the public domain (e.g., substance use trends and well-known dangers of substance involvement), and focus on communication approaches and talking points when discussing substance use with their adolescent (e.g., why adolescents use; how the media may influence attitudes about substances).
University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Psychiatry
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Adolescent Substance Use
Adolescent participants will complete the Timeline Follow Back in order to assess days of drug use.
Time frame: Changes from Baseline at 3-, 6-, and 12- months post-baseline
Adolescent Drug Use Consequences
The adolescent participant will complete the Personal Consequences Scale in order to measure their drug use consequences.
Time frame: Changes from Baseline at 3-, 6-, and 12- months post-baseline
DSM-IV Substance Use Diagnosis
The Adolescent Diagnostic Interview (ADI) will be used to determine a diagnosis.
Time frame: Changes from Baseline at 3-, 6-, and 12- months post-baseline
Adolescent Mental Health
Adolescent mental health will be measured in two ways. The parent participant will complete the ADI-Parent version and the adolescent participant will complete the Comprehensive Adolescent Severity Inventory (CASI).
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, and 12- months post-baseline
Adolescent Treatment History
Parent participants will provide this data when completing the ADI-Parent version.
Time frame: Baseline and 3-, 6-, and 12- months post-baseline
Program Acceptability
The Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ) will be completed by parents during the training session and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) will be completed my the parent after he or she completes the third training session with the adolescent.
Time frame: Parent Training (average of 2 weeks post-baseline) and Post-Session 3 (average of 6 weeks after the parent training)
Program Satisfaction
Parents will complete a satisfaction questionnaire after completing the third session with the adolescent participant.
Time frame: Post-Session 3 (average of 6 weeks after the parent training)
Training Fidelity
A training fidelity checklist will be completed by an assessor following the training.
Time frame: Parent Training (average of 2 weeks post-baseline)
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