Cultural Adaptation of Drug Treatment for DJJ Youth (CAST)

The Cultural Adaptation of an Alcohol and Other Drug Use Treatment for Black Justice Involved Youth

This project aims to improve the understanding of the impact of Ethnic and Racial Discrimination (ERD) on adolescent alcohol and other drug use (AOD) within the Black Justice-Involved Youth (JIY) population. Individual interviews with Black JIY and focus groups with parents and guardians of Black JIY and community members who support change and reform in the justice community for Black JIY will be conducted.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Substance Use
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Culturally Adapted Adolescent Substance Use Treatment

Detailed Description

Black JIY are overrepresented in the criminal justice system due to institutional racism and discrimination. The General Strain Theory posits that high levels of ethnic and racial discrimination (ERD), paired with elevated levels of witnessing or experiencing police brutality, places Black JIY at unique risk of increased alcohol and other drug use (AOD) as a means of coping with stressful events. Black JIY report engaging in comorbid alcohol and cannabis use to achieve temporary respite from discrimination-induced stress. While JIY engage in higher rates of comorbid alcohol and cannabis use compared to non-justice-involved youth, overall, Black JIY are less likely to be diverted to substance use treatment programs, less likely to engage in care after being released on probation, less likely to benefit from substance use treatment in terms of reduced risk of recidivism, and are more adversely affected by early onset of AOD activity than White JIY. To date, no known adolescent substance use treatment directly addresses ERD, the increased risk of AOD due to ERD, or explicitly presents tools on how to appropriately respond to AOD and discrimination distress among Black JIY. To address this problem, the investigator's research program aspires to improve the understanding of the impact of ERD on adolescent AOD within the Black JIY population. Individual interviews with Black JIY and focus groups with guardians of Black JIY and community members will be conducted. Data will be used to culturally adapt an adolescent substance use intervention. The culturally adapted intervention will then be piloted with 30 Black JIY.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 55
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Brittany E Bryant, DSW; Phone Number: 843-973-0867; Email: brittany.bryant@ucsf.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94110
      • Recruiting
      • University of California, San Francisco
      • Contact: Brittany Bryant, DSW; Phone Number: 843-973-0867; Email: brittany.bryant@ucsf.edu
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Completed
      • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

For Focus Groups and Interviews:

Black JIY Participants:

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1) Between the ages of 13-17; 2) identify as Black or African American; and 3) on community probation.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Will be excluded if they do not have parental consent to participate.

For Focus Groups and Interviews:

Adult Participants

Inclusion Criteria:

• A guardian of JIY
• An advocate (someone who supports change and reform in the justice community) for Black JIY.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Will be excluded if they do not provide consent to participate.

For pilot feasibility study:

Black JIY Participants:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Between the ages of 13 and 17
• Identify as Black or African American
• Be on community probation
• Meet criteria for alcohol, cannabis, or other drug misuse as defined by the DSM 5
• Be experiencing at least 1 problem related to AOD;
• The frequency of AOD must be weekly use over a 3-month period

Exclusion Criteria:

• Will be excluded if they do not have parental consent to participate
• Parole violation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ADAP-ITT Phase 8; Phase 8 consists of piloting the culturally adapted CYT intervention with 30 Black JIY to examine feasibility and acceptability.	Behavioral: Culturally Adapted Adolescent Substance Use Treatment; The Cannabis Youth Treatment Series (CYT) (MET/CBT12 model) aims to reduce alcohol and cannabis use.; Other Names: Cannabis Youth Treatment Series

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility and Acceptability	Participants will complete feasibility and acceptability questionnaires and provide qualitative data on likes and dislikes about the intervention, delivery, session structure, and content.	After study completion, an average of 3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in substance use	Participants will complete urinalysis	Baseline, after each study visit, at study completion, up to 3 months post-intervention, an average of 6 months.
Change in discrimination distress	Participants will complete a discrimination distress assessment measure	baseline, after study completion, and up to 3 months post-intervention, an average of 6 months.
Change in mental health symptoms	Participants will complete measures and questionnaires to monitor anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms	Baseline, after each study visit, at study completion, up to 3 months post-intervention, an average of 6 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Collaborators: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Brittany Bryant, DSW, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 30, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 30, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 26, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: adolescent; Substance use; cultural adaptation; substance misuse
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 23-40126; K23DA057412 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: IPD will not be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

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