Brief Intervention for Families of Teens Treated in the Emergency Department for an Alcohol-Related Event

July 28, 2012 updated by: Anthony Spirito, Brown University

Family Motivational Interviews for ETOH+ Teens in the ER

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a brief family intervention in reducing alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among families of underage drinkers (13-17 years old) who are treated in a hospital emergency department for an alcohol-related event.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The long-term objectives of this research program are to develop effective interventions in health care settings for reducing problem drinking and associated problems among adolescents and to further enhance intervention approaches by identifying effective elements of treatment. The major purpose of this study is to compare a brief integrated individual and family intervention designed to reduce alcohol use and related problems to an enhanced standard care condition (standard care plus family assessment).

The targeted population is underage drinkers (13-17 years old) who have been treated in an Emergency Department following an alcohol-related event. It is important to intervene with this population because alcohol-involved adolescents may be at higher risk for having continuing alcohol problems (Fillmore, 1988; Zucker, in press). The intervention is conceptualized as using a "teachable moment" (i.e., shortly after a salient event) to increase family interest in reducing harmful drinking. The experimental intervention integrates an individual Motivational Interview (MI) for the adolescent, based on our research group's prior work with this intervention, with a brief family intervention, the Family Check-Up (Dishion & Kavanagh, 2003).

The experimental condition will be compared to standard care plus family assessment. This design allows us to test the added benefit of the brief family intervention compared to the benefits often derived from assessment without added treatment. Follow-up interviews will be conducted at 3, 6, and 12 months after the baseline intervention to assess outcome. The specific aims of this proposal are to test the effectiveness of the experimental intervention in reducing alcohol-related problems, alcohol consumption, and other behavior problems compared to the enhanced standard care condition. Second, we will examine whether depressed mood and behavior problems at baseline moderate the effects of the treatment conditions. We will also test whether individual factors (motivation to change behavior) and environmental factors (parent/family influence and peer influence) mediate the relation between the treatment condition and outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

208

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Rhode Island
      • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903
        • Rhode Island Hospital/Lifespan Corporation and Brown University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

13 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Child aged 13-17 years
  • Receiving treatment at the approved medical Emergency Department
  • Child living in a home with at least one parent or legal guardian

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children who are suicidal, in police custody, not alert/oriented, non-English speaking, in severe pain, or who have sustained severe trauma
  • Children with a history of prior substance abuse treatment

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1) MI/Family Check-Up
Brief integrated individual and family intervention -- the experimental intervention integrates an individual Motivational Interview (MI) for the adolescent with a brief family intervention, the Family Check-Up
Behavioral: MI/Family Check-up
The experimental intervention integrates an individual Motivational Interview (MI) for the adolescent with a brief family intervention, the Family Check-Up. Follow-up interviews will be conducted at 3, 6, and 12 months after the baseline intervention.
Active Comparator: 2) MI only
Behavioral: MI only
An individual motivational interview (IMI only) will be conducted at 3, 6, and 12 months after the baseline intervention to assess outcome.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Alcohol use
Time Frame: 3 months
Drinking frequency (days per month), quantity (drinks per occasion), and frequency of high-volume drinking (5 or more drinks per occasion) over the prior 3 months.
3 months
Alcohol use
Time Frame: 6 months
Drinking frequency (days per month), quantity (drinks per occasion), and frequency of high-volume drinking (5 or more drinks per occasion) over the prior 3 months.
6 months
Alcohol use
Time Frame: 12 months
Drinking frequency (days per month), quantity (drinks per occasion), and frequency of high-volume drinking (5 or more drinks per occasion) over the prior 3 months.
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
marijuana use
Time Frame: 3 months
Days of use in prior 3 months
3 months
Marijuana use
Time Frame: 6 months
Days of use in prior 3 months
6 months
Marijuana use
Time Frame: 12 months
Days of use in prior 3 months
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Brown University

Collaborators

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Investigators

  • Study Director: Anthony Spirito, PhD, Brown University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

October 1, 2002

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 28, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 28, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

November 1, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 31, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 28, 2012

Last Verified

July 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NIAAASPI013385
  • R01AA013385 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • NIH grant R01 AA013385

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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