Substance Use Interventions for Truant Adolescents (GOALS)

Brief Individual and Parent Interventions for Substance Use in Truant Adolescents

This study evaluates a brief motivation-building intervention for parents and teens to reduce truancy and substance use. It is hypothesized that the motivational intervention will result in better outcomes compared to an education-only intervention.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Marijuana Abuse; Substance Abuse; Alcohol Abuse; Adolescent Problem Behavior; Truancy; Socialized; Truancy; Unsocialized
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Motivational + Family Check-up (MET+FCU); Other: Psychoeducation

Detailed Description

Adolescents who use marijuana and are truant from school are a high-risk population with increased likelihood of substance use disorders, criminal justice involvement, and long-term impairments in vocational, family, and peer domains.

This study will test a theory-driven intervention for early adolescent marijuana using, truant youth identified through Rhode Island Truancy and Family Courts. Adolescents will be randomly assigned to one of the 2 conditions: a motivational interview versus psychoeducation.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 110
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02903
      • Rhode Island Family Court
    • Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02912
      • Brown Univerity

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• the target child is in 6th-10th grade at the start of the project and living at home with at least one parent/guardian,
• the teen must report 6 or more incidences of marijuana use in the last 90 days (an approximation of biweekly use)
• by law, the teen must have at least 20 unexcused absences in an academic year to be in truancy court, and (4) parental consent and teen assent are obtained.

Exclusion Criteria:

• the family is not able to speak and understand English or Spanish well enough to complete study procedures
• developmental delay, as determined by school placements outside the regular classroom, that would affect comprehension of the intervention.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Motivational + Family Check-up (MET+FCU); The MET individual session covers three constructs; 1) intentions to use marijuana; 2) normative beliefs about peer substance use; and 3) attitudes towards peer substance use. These same three constructs are also addressed with respect to truancy. In addition, motivation to abstain from substance use is discussed. The FCU session with teens and parents/caregivers begins by collecting self-report measures and conducting a videotaped Family Assessment Task (FAsTask) to assess parent-teen interactions. The FAsTask is the basis of FCU feedback. There are four specific phases of the feedback session: 1) Self-assessment, 2) Support and clarification, 3) Feedback, and, 4) Action plan.	Behavioral: Motivational + Family Check-up (MET+FCU); In the MET session, motivational strategies of individualized normative feedback, examining decisional balance, and providing information/advice will be used to support goals for behavior change and to examine barriers to changes. There are four specific phases of the FCU session: (1) Self-assessment: Parents are asked if they learned anything about their family from participating in the assessment. (2) Support and clarification: The interviewer supports the parent's self-assessment efforts, assesses their level of understanding, and clarifies issues within the family. (3) Feedback: A summary form of the assessment is reviewed. (4) Action Plan: Throughout the session, the counselor works with the parent to develop a brief, written Action Plan about communication and monitoring.
Placebo Comparator: Psychoeducation; An interventionist will review a set of educational materials with the parents regarding teen marijuana use, effects of marijuana on the brain, body and behavior, risks associated with marijuana use, how to tell if a teen is engaging in marijuana use or truancy, and parenting skills. A comparable set of materials will be reviewed with the adolescent.	Other: Psychoeducation; Psychoeducation about substances is provided to teens and parents.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Frequency of Marijuana Use	Total number of marijuana use days .	Last 90 days at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months
Change in Quantity of Marijuana Use per Occasion of Use	Average quantity of marijuana use per day	Last 90 days at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Days truant from school	School attendance based on objective school records	Last 90 days at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months
Change in Days truant from school, self-report	School attendance based on self-report	Last 90 days at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Brown University
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Anthony Spirito, Ph.D., Brown University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 30, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): April 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 1, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 30, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): August 31, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 3, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 31, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Brief intervention; Behavioral intervention; Juvenile justice; Motivational enhancement
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Alcoholism; Problem Behavior; Marijuana Abuse
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1802001993; 1R01DA045396-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The final study protocol will contain the information necessary to reproduce the findings in other populations. The protocol will include a copy of this grant application including Specific Aims and study population; recruitment and enrollment information; the measures collected and coding of the measures and subscales; the clinician intervention procedures; data analyses; syntax for data summary, and data analysis plans
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: I year after completion of all data collection
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Contact PI
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No