Substance Use Interventions for Truant Adolescents

Substance Abuse Clinical Trial

— GOALS  

Official title:

Brief Individual and Parent Interventions for Substance Use in Truant Adolescents

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03655574
• Other study ID #: 1802001993
• Secondary ID: 1R01DA045396-01A
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: January 1, 2019
• Est. completion date: April 30, 2024

Study information

• Verified date: December 2023
• Source: Brown University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Enrollment: 150
• Est. completion date: April 30, 2024
• Est. primary completion date: October 30, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 12 Years to 18 Years

Eligibility

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.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Adolescent Problem Behavior
• Alcohol Abuse
• Alcoholism
• Marijuana Abuse
• Problem Behavior
• Substance Abuse
• Substance-Related Disorders
• Truancy; Socialized
• Truancy; Unsocialized

Intervention

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.

Other:
• Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation about substances is provided to teens and parents.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Brown Univerity	Providence	Rhode Island
United States	Rhode Island Family Court	Providence	Rhode Island

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Brown University	National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in Frequency of Marijuana Use	Total number of marijuana use days .	Last 90 days at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months
Primary	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	Change in Days truant from school	School attendance based on objective school records	Last 90 days at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months
Secondary	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