Youth Substance Use Prevention/Reduction Through Science-based Drug Abuse Education

Youth Substance Use Prevention/Reduction Through Science-based Drug Abuse Education: A High School Pilot Study

Our primary goal is to conduct a pilot study of the effects of a new potential strategy for youth substance abuse prevention - science-based drug education integrated into the high school science curriculum. Through this pilot study we propose to: (1) demonstrate that this new strategy shows promise, and (2) estimate the effect size for the intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Substance Abuse
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: drug prevention curriculum

Detailed Description

NIDA, in recent years, has put resources into summarizing and synthesizing cutting-edge medical and basic science research discoveries about the short-term and long-term effects of drug use on the developing brain. One outcome of this results was the production of a science-based drug education program entitled "The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction." This is a 5-lesson module for high school science classes that teaches about brain structure and function, how drugs affect and change the biology and chemistry of the brain, how addiction occurs in the brain, and that addiction is a chronic, recurring disease. However, the effect of receipt of this program on students' substance use knowledge, attitudes, perceived risk of harm, and behavior has not been systematically evaluated to date.

The specific aims of this project are:

1. To evaluate the effects of receipt of the curriculum on specific cognitive contributors to substance use including a)students' knowledge about the short- and long-term effects of substance use on the brain; b)perceived risk of harm from substance use; and c)intention to use substances in the next 3 months.
2. To evaluate the effects of the intervention on actual substance use behavior. We hypothesize that the effectiveness of this approach may be modified by the students' level of prior and current substance use, with the effect being stronger among those who have not already initiated use, or among those who have very low use. Therefore, we will specifically examine whether the intervention a)prevents substance use initiation among students who had no previous use, b)stops use among students with low lifetime use, and c) reduces use among those with higher levels of use.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 225
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
      • Children's Hospital Boston

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 19 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Student in 9th/10th/11th grade science classes at Fenway High School at start of study or student in 11th grade science classes at Boston Arts Academy at start of study
• Parental permission to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

• No parental permission to participate
• Unable to read English

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: 1; Participants in the "no intervention" condition will receive the usual high school science curriculum.
Experimental: 2; Participants in the "experimental" arm will receive the 5-lesson, science-based substance abuse prevention curriculum in their science classes.	Other: drug prevention curriculum; Participants in the "experimental" arm of the study will receive the 5-lesson, science-based drug prevention curriculum in their science classes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Lifetime, past 6 month and past 30 day use of substances	Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 month post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Frequency and quantity of substance use	Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention
Knowledge about effects of substance use on the brain	Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention
Perceived risk of harm of substance use	Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention
Intention to use substances in the next 3 months	Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Boston Children's Hospital
• Collaborators: Boston Public Schools
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Sion Kim Harris, PhD, Boston Children's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Web page of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: December 1, 2006
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2008
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 29, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 29, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): February 11, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): March 14, 2011
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 11, 2011
• Last Verified: March 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Substance abuse
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 06120537