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

Substance Abuse Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00612482
• Other study ID #: 06120537
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 1
• First received: January 29, 2008
• Last updated: March 11, 2011
• Start date: December 2006
• Est. completion date: January 2008

Study information

• Verified date: March 2011
• Source: Children's Hospital Boston
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 225
• Est. completion date: January 2008
• Est. primary completion date: January 2008
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 14 Years to 19 Years

Eligibility

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 Design

Allocation: Non-Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Substance Abuse

Intervention

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.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Children's Hospital Boston	Boston	Massachusetts

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Children's Hospital Boston	Boston Public Schools

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Lifetime, past 6 month and past 30 day use of substances		Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 month post-intervention	No
Secondary	Frequency and quantity of substance use		Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention	No
Secondary	Knowledge about effects of substance use on the brain		Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention	No
Secondary	Perceived risk of harm of substance use		Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention	No
Secondary	Intention to use substances in the next 3 months		Pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, 6-7 months post-intervention	No

External Links

•   Web page of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research