Using Technology to Reduce Youth Substance Use (TEXT2)

The research project will focus on conducting a trial of whether a tailored SMS text-messaging intervention is efficacious in improving justice-involved youths' substance use or dual diagnosis treatment attendance and engagement.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Drug Use
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: SMS Text Messaging Plus; Behavioral: SMS Text Messaging

Detailed Description

The study will demonstrate how delivery of motivational/coaching messages to justice-involved youth and their caregivers will lead to greater youth substance use treatment attendance and engagement. The study will start with identifying the feasibility and acceptability of the SMS text-messaging intervention with community-supervised justice-involved youth. Then, the study will determine whether the tailored dyadic (youth and caregiver) "SMS text-messaging plus" intervention (appointment reminder texts plus motivational message texts) improves youth substance use or dual diagnosis treatment attendance and engagement relative to the "SMS text messaging" comparison (only appointment reminder texts). Finally, the study will characterize patterns of key justice and behavioral health system-level factors that promote or hinder eventual adoption and sustainability of mHealth technology as a tool to improve treatment attendance for justice-involved youth.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94131
      • UCSF Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 9 years to 14 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• English-speaking youth with willing adult caregiver
• Ages 13-18
• Justice-involved while living in the community
• Own a mobile phone or tablet
• Are willing to send and receive text messages
• Are referred to community-based substance use and/or mental health treatment

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SMS Text Messaging Plus; SMS text messaging intervention for a period of 90 days to encourage attendance at community-based substance use or dual diagnosis treatment appointments through treatment appointment reminders plus motivational messages	Behavioral: SMS Text Messaging Plus; SMS text messaging intervention for a period of 90 days to encourage attendance at community-based substance use or dual diagnosis treatment appointments through treatment appointment reminders plus motivational messages
Active Comparator: SMS Text Messaging; SMS text messaging intervention for a period of 90 days that included only treatment appointment reminders	Behavioral: SMS Text Messaging; SMS text messaging intervention for a period of 90 days that included only treatment appointment reminders

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Attendance	Youth's percentage of treatment sessions attended as separately self-reported by youth and caregivers.	90 days post baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol Use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) alcohol use. These data represent the number of youth who endorsed any alcohol use in the past 90 days	90 days post baseline
Drug Use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) cannabis and other drug use. These data represent the number of youth who endorsed any drug use in the past 90 days	90 days post baseline
Tobacco Use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) cannabis and other drug use. These data represent the number of youth who endorsed any tobacco use in the past 90 days	90 days post baseline
In Mental Health Treatment at 90 Day Follow up	Treatment Status and Attendance Youth survey is used to gather detailed information about type of treatment the youth is attending.	90 days post baseline
In Substance Use Treatment at 90 Day Follow up	Treatment Status and Attendance Youth survey is used to gather detailed information about type of treatment the youth is attending.	90 days post baseline
In Dual Diagnosis (Mental Health and Substance Use) Treatment at 90 Day Follow up	Treatment Status and Attendance Youth survey is used to gather detailed information about type of treatment the youth is attending.	90 days post baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Alcohol use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) alcohol use.	90 days post baseline
Alcohol use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) alcohol use.	180 days post baseline
Drug use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) cannabis and other drug use.	90 days post baseline
Drug use	The Adolescent Risk Behavior Assessment (ARBA) is used to assess quantity and frequency of previous (lifetime and past 90 days) cannabis and other drug use.	180 days post baseline
Drug Use	The Texas Christian University (TCU) Drug Screen with Opioid Supplement is used to gather detailed information about drug and opioid use.	90 days post baseline
Drug Use	The Texas Christian University (TCU) Drug Screen with Opioid Supplement is used to gather detailed information about drug and opioid use.	180 days post baseline
Response rate to SMS messages	Digital (mobile) health metrics	30 days post baseline
Response rate to SMS messages	Digital (mobile) health metrics	60 days post baseline
Response rate to SMS messages	Digital (mobile) health metrics	90 days post baseline
Psychiatric symptoms	Global Appraisal of Individual Needs-Short Screener (GAIN-SS) is used to identify people with recent and lifetime internalizing and externalizing mental health disorders, substance use disorders and crime/violence problems. GAIN-SS responses are given in terms of the recency of the problem described in the questions: 3 = past month; 2 = 2 to 12 months ago; 1 = 1+ years ago; 0 = never. The number of past-month symptoms (number of 3s) is used as a measure of change; the number of past-year symptoms (number of 3s or 2s) is used to identify who is likely to have a current diagnosis; and the number of lifetime symptoms (number of 3s, 2s, or 1s) is used as a covariate measure of lifetime severity.	90 days post baseline
Psychiatric symptoms	Global Appraisal of Individual Needs-Short Screener (GAIN-SS) is used to identify people with recent and lifetime internalizing and externalizing mental health disorders, substance use disorders and crime/violence problems. GAIN-SS responses are given in terms of the recency of the problem described in the questions: 3 = past month; 2 = 2 to 12 months ago; 1 = 1+ years ago; 0 = never. The number of past-month symptoms (number of 3s) is used as a measure of change; the number of past-year symptoms (number of 3s or 2s) is used to identify who is likely to have a current diagnosis; and the number of lifetime symptoms (number of 3s, 2s, or 1s) is used as a covariate measure of lifetime severity.	180 days post baseline
Therapeutic Alliance	The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) is used to assess youth's perception of therapeutic alliance (with treatment provider) over time. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating greater perceived therapeutic alliance.	30 days post baseline
Therapeutic Alliance	The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) is used to assess youth's perception of therapeutic alliance (with treatment provider) over time. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating greater perceived therapeutic alliance.	60 days post baseline
Therapeutic Alliance	The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) is used to assess youth's perception of therapeutic alliance (with treatment provider) over time. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating greater perceived therapeutic alliance.	90 days post baseline
Therapeutic Alliance	The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) is used to assess youth's perception of therapeutic alliance (with treatment provider) over time. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating greater perceived therapeutic alliance.	120 days post baseline
Therapeutic Alliance	The Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) is used to assess youth's perception of therapeutic alliance (with treatment provider) over time. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating greater perceived therapeutic alliance.	180 days post baseline
Treatment Motivation	The Motivation for Youth's Treatment Scale (MYTS) is used to measure intrinsic treatment motivation.	30 days post baseline
Treatment Motivation	The Motivation for Youth's Treatment Scale (MYTS) is used to measure intrinsic treatment motivation.	60 days post baseline
Treatment Motivation	The Motivation for Youth's Treatment Scale (MYTS) is used to measure intrinsic treatment motivation.	90 days post baseline
Treatment Motivation	The Motivation for Youth's Treatment Scale (MYTS) is used to measure intrinsic treatment motivation.	120 days post baseline
Treatment Motivation	The Motivation for Youth's Treatment Scale (MYTS) is used to measure intrinsic treatment motivation.	180 days post baseline
Characteristics of Communication and Interaction with Probation Officers and Treatment Providers	Questions on communication characteristics will identify the preferred modes and patterns of communication between caregivers/youth and probation officers/treatment providers.	30 days post baseline
Characteristics of Communication and Interaction with Probation Officers and Treatment Providers	Questions on communication characteristics will identify the preferred modes and patterns of communication between caregivers/youth and probation officers/treatment providers.	60 days post baseline
Characteristics of Communication and Interaction with Probation Officers and Treatment Providers	Questions on communication characteristics will identify the preferred modes and patterns of communication between caregivers/youth and probation officers/treatment providers.	90 days post baseline
Characteristics of Communication and Interaction with Probation Officers and Treatment Providers	Questions on communication characteristics will identify the preferred modes and patterns of communication between caregivers/youth and probation officers/treatment providers.	120 days post baseline
Characteristics of Communication and Interaction with Probation Officers and Treatment Providers	Questions on communication characteristics will identify the preferred modes and patterns of communication between caregivers/youth and probation officers/treatment providers.	180 days post baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marina Tolou-Shams, PhD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 7, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 22, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): June 25, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescent; mHealth; text messaging; Substance use; Juvenile justice
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1K24DA046569-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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