Disorders - Substance Use Disorders
Duncan, R., Washburn, I. J., Lewis, K. M., Bavarian, N., DuBois, D. L., Acock, A. C., Vuchinich, S., Flay, B. R.
Behavioral trajectories during middle childhood are predictive of consequential outcomes later in life (e.g., substance abuse, violence). Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are designed to promote trajectories that reflect both growth in positive behaviors and inhibited development of negative behaviors. The current study used growth mixture models to examine effects of the Positive Action (PA) program on behavioral trajectories of social-emotional and character development (SECD) and misconduct using data from a cluster-randomized trial that involved 14 schools and a sample of predominately low-income, urban youth followed from 3rd through 8th grade. For SECD, findings indicated that PA was similarly effective at improving trajectories within latent classes characterized as "high/declining" and "low/stable". Favorable program effects were likewise evident to a comparable degree for misconduct across observed latent classes that reflected "low/rising" and "high/rising" trajectories. These findings suggest that PA and perhaps other school-based universal SEL programs have the potential to yield comparable benefits across subgroups of youth with differing trajectories of positive and negative behaviors, making them promising strategies for achieving the intended goal of school-wide improvements in student outcomes.
Prevention Science, 18(2) : 214-224
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Carmona, J., Slesnick, N., Guo, X., Murnan, A., Brakenhoff, B.
Homeless youth have high rates of substance use and often lack connection to social services. Outreach is critical for connecting youth to services, but factors influencing their outreach engagement are unknown. This study examined predictors of meetings with outreach workers among 79 non-service connected, substance using homeless youth between 14 and 24 years of age. Results provide direction to service providers in that older age, higher levels of depressive symptoms, fewer drug-related problems, and no use of hard drugs within the prior 30 days predicted higher meeting attendance. Future research is needed testing strategies that overcome barriers to outreach engagement.
Community Mental Health Journal, 53(1) : 62-71
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement
Velasco, V., Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J.
Evidence-based preventive interventions for adolescent substance use, violence, and mental health issues are increasingly being adapted and disseminated internationally. In the present paper, we report the results of an effectiveness study that was part of a comprehensive initiative by a coalition of health promotion organizations in the Lombardy region of Italy to select, culturally adapt, implement, evaluate, and sustain an evidence-based drug abuse prevention program developed in the USA. Findings are presented from a large-scale effectiveness study of the Life Skills Training prevention program among over 3000 students attending 55 middle schools in Italy. The prevention program taught drug refusal skills, antidrug norms, personal self-management skills, and general social skills. Relative to comparison group students, students who received the prevention program were less likely to initiate smoking at the post-test and 2-year follow-up, and less likely to initiate weekly drunkenness at the 1-year follow-up. The program had direct positive effects on several cognitive, attitudinal, and skill variables believed to play a protective role in adolescent substance use. The findings from this study show that a drug abuse prevention program originally designed for adolescents in the USA is effective in a sample of Italian youth when a rigorous and systematic approach to cultural adaptation is followed that incorporates the input of multiple stakeholders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Prevention Science, 18(4) : 394-405
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Skills training, Other Psychological Interventions
Andersson, C., Ojehagen, A., Olsson, M. O., Bradvik, L., Hakansson, A.
Purpose: Substance use disorders and problematic substance use are common problems in adolescence and young adulthood. Brief personalized feedback has been suggested for treatment of alcohol and drug problems and poor mental health. This repeated measurement randomized controlled trial examines the effect of an interactive voice response (IVR) system for assessing stress, depression, anxiety and substance use. Methods: The IVR system was used twice weekly over 3 months after treatment initiation, with or without addition of a personalized feedback intervention on stress and mental health symptoms. Both IVR assessment only (control group) and IVR assessment including feedback (intervention group) were provided as an add-on to treatment-as-usual procedures (TAU) in outpatient treatment of substance use problems in adolescents and young adults (N = 73). Results: By using a mixed models approach, differences in change scores were analyzed over the three-month assessment period. Compared to the control group, the intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in the Arnetz and Hasson stress score (AHSS, p = 0.019), the total Symptoms Checklist 8 score (SCL-8D, p = 0.037), the SCL-8D anxiety sub-score (p = 0.017), and on a summarized feedback score (p = 0.026), but not on the depression subscale. There were no differences in global substance use scores between the intervention group (feedback on mental health symptoms) and the control group. Conclusion: In conclusion, IVR may be useful for follow-up and repeated interventions as an add-on to regular treatment, and personalized feedback could potentially improve mental health in adolescents and young adults with problematic substance use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
International journal of behavioral medicine, 24(5) : 789-797
- Year: 2017
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Personalised feedback, normative feedback
, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Beach, S. R., Barton, A. W., Lei, M. K., Mandara, J., Wells, A. C., Kogan, S. M., Brody, G. H.
African American couples (N = 139; 67.7 % married; with children between the ages of 9 and 14) were randomly assigned to (a) a culturally sensitive, couple- and parenting-focused program designed to prevent stress-spillover (n = 70) or (b) an information-only control condition in which couples received self-help materials (n = 69). Eight months after baseline, youth whose parents participated in the program, compared with control youth, reported increased parental monitoring, positive racial socialization, and positive self-concept, as well as decreased conduct problems and self-reported substance use. Changes in youth-reported parenting behavior partially mediated the effect of the intervention on conduct problems and fully mediated its impact on positive self-concept, but did not mediate effects on lifetime substance use initiation.
Prevention Science, 17(5) : 572-83
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Family therapy, Psychoeducation, Other Psychological Interventions
Chilenski, S. M., Welsh, J. A., Perkins, D. F., Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T.
This study examined how participation in a universal family skills-building program may interact with community risks and resources to produce youth outcomes. Prior research has noted community-level variability in risk and protective factors, but thus far no study has examined the role that participation on a community-wide intervention may play in moderating the effects of community risks or resources. The study included 14 communities (seven in Iowa, seven in Pennsylvania) that implemented a family focused evidence-based program as part of the PROSPER project. Community level variables included both risk factors (percent of low income families, the availability of alcohol and tobacco, norms regarding adolescent substance use, incidence of drug-related crimes) and community resources (proactive school leadership, availability of youth-serving organizations, and student involvement in youth activities). The proximal youth and family outcomes included youth perceptions of their parents' management skills, parent-child activities, and family cohesion. Results indicated that the Strengthening Families Program:10-14 may have moderated the impact of the community risks and resources on community-level youth outcomes; risk levels meaningfully associated with community-level change in program participants, though these results varied somewhat by outcome. Generally, higher levels of resources also meaningfully associated with more positive change after participating in the family-focused intervention. These results suggest that the effect of some evidence-based programs may be even stronger in some communities than others; more research in this area is needed. Copyright © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.
American Journal of Community Psychology, 57(1-2) : 8-19
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Sanchez, Z. M., Sanudo, A., Andreoni, S., Schneider, D., Pereira, A. P., Faggiano, F.
BACKGROUND: Most Brazilian schools do not have a continuous program for drug use prevention and do not conduct culturally adapted activities for that purpose. This study evaluated the impact of the Unplugged program on drug use prevention among children and adolescents in public middle schools of Brazil.
METHODS: A non-randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2013 with 2185 students in 16 public schools from 3 Brazilian cities. The intervention group attended 12 weekly classes of the Unplugged program for drug use prevention, and the control group did not attend to any school prevention programs in the same year. Multilevel analyses were used to evaluate temporal and between group changes in the consumption of each drug.
RESULTS: The study suggested that there was no evidence that Unplugged effected 11- to 12-year-old students. However, the program seemed to stimulate a decrease in recent marijuana use (transition from use to non-use in 85.7% of intervention cases and 28.6% of control cases, OR = 17.5, p = 0.039) among 13- to 15-year-old students. In addition, students in this age range who received the Unplugged program had similar drug consumption levels to those observed before the program began. However, students in the control group presented a significant tendency to increase marijuana use and binge drinking.
CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the evidence of program efficacy among Brazilian middle school students by presenting marginal effects on binge drinking and marijuana use. An 18-month randomized controlled trial is recommended for a future study.
BMC Public Health, 16(1) : 1206
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Marsiglia, F. F., Ayers, S. L., Baldwin-White, A., Booth, J.
While parent and youth substance use prevention interventions have shown beneficial effects on preadolescents, many programs have typically targeted US born European American and African American families while overlooking the unique factors that characterize recent immigrant Latino families. This article presents the results on youth substance use when adding a culturally grounded parenting component, Familias Preparando la Nueva Generacion (FPNG), to the existing and already proven efficacious classroom-based drug abuse prevention intervention, keepin'it REAL (kiR). Data come from youth (N=267) participating in the randomized control trial of the interventions who were surveyed at baseline (beginning at 7th grade) and 18 months later (end of 8th grade). Using multivariate linear regression path analyses, results indicate when FPNG and kiR are combined, youth had significantly lowered alcohol and cigarettes use at the end of 8th grade, mediated through anti-drug norms, when compared with youth who only participated in kiR without parental participation in FPNG. These findings indicate that adolescent normative beliefs and related behaviors can be changed through synchronized culturally grounded parent and youth interventions and together can play an important role in reducing adolescent substance use.
Prevention Science, 17(1) : 1-12
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Okamoto, S. K., Kulis, S., Helm, S., Lauricella, M., Valdez, J. K.
This pilot study evaluated the Ho'ouna Pono curriculum, which is a culturally grounded, school-based, drug prevention curriculum tailored to rural Native Hawaiian youth. The curriculum focuses on culturally relevant drug resistance skills training and is aligned with the State of Hawai'i academic standards. Six Hawai'i Island public middle/intermediate schools randomly assigned to intervention or treatment-as-usual comparison conditions (N = 213) were evaluated in this study. Paired sample t-tests separating intervention and comparison groups were conducted, as well as mixed models that adjusted for random effects (nesting) at the school level. Findings suggested that the curriculum was effective in maintaining youths' use of culturally relevant drug resistance skills, as well as decreasing girls' aggressive behaviors, at six-month follow-up. Unanticipated findings also suggested areas for curricular improvement, including more emphasis on normative drug education. Implications for future research and development of the curriculum are discussed.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor & Underserved, 27(2) : 815-33
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Universal prevention
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Skills training, Other Psychological Interventions
Perrino, T., Brincks, A., Howe, G., Brown, C. H., Prado, G., Pantin, H.
Familias Unidas is a family-focused preventive intervention that has been found to reduce drug use and sexual risk behaviors among Hispanic adolescents. In some trials, Familias Unidas has also been found to be efficacious in reducing adolescent internalizing symptoms (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms), even though the intervention did not specifically target internalizing symptoms. This study examines potential mediators or mechanisms by which Familias Unidas influences internalizing symptoms, specifically the role of intervention-targeted improvements in parent-adolescent communication and reductions in youth externalizing behaviors. A total of 213 Hispanic eighth grade students with a history of externalizing behavior problems and their primary caregivers were recruited from the public school system.
Prevention Science, 17(5) : 595-605
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Wolchik, S. A., Tein, J. Y. Sandler, I. N., Kim, H. J.
A developmental cascade model from functioning in adolescence to emerging adulthood was tested using data from a 15-year longitudinal follow-up of 240 emerging adults whose families participated in a randomized, experimental trial of a preventive program for divorced families. Families participated in the program or literature control condition when the offspring were ages 9-12. Short-term follow-ups were conducted 3 months and 6 months following completion of the program when the offspring were in late childhood/early adolescence. Long-term follow-ups were conducted 6 years and 15 years after program completion when the offspring were in middle to late adolescence and emerging adulthood, respectively. It was hypothesized that the impact of the program on mental health and substance use outcomes in emerging adulthood would be explained by developmental cascade effects of program effects in adolescence. The results provided support for a cascade effects model. Specifically, academic competence in adolescence had cross-domain effects on internalizing problems and externalizing problems in emerging adulthood. In addition, adaptive coping in adolescence was significantly, negatively related to binge drinking. It was unexpected that internalizing symptoms in adolescence were significantly negatively related to marijuana use and alcohol use. Gender differences occurred in the links between mental health problems and substance use in adolescence and mental health problems and substance use in emerging adulthood.
Development & Psychopathology, 28(3) : 869-88
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions, Self-help
Stewart, D. G., Siebert, E. C., Arlt, V. K., Moise-Campbell, C., Lehinger, E.
We aimed to examine the impact of a school-based Motivational Interviewing (MI) intervention, Project READY, on reducing adolescent substance use. We randomly assigned students (N = 244) to receive the intervention immediately (READY First) or to be in a waitlist control group (WLC). Those in WLC received the intervention once those in READY First had completed the intervention. Our hypotheses were: (1) adolescents in READY First would make greater initial reductions in their alcohol and marijuana use compared to adolescents assigned to WLC, (2) adolescents in READY First would make greater initial reductions in their alcohol and marijuana-related consequences compared to adolescents assigned to WLC, and (3) upon completing treatment, adolescents assigned to WLC would yield substance-related outcomes comparable to their peers in the READY First group. We found that those in READY First made greater initial decreases in their marijuana use and substance-related consequences upon completing treatment than participants in WLC, during the first phase of the study. Once both groups had completed the active intervention, those in the WLC had comparable marijuana use to those in READY First. At enrollment, daily marijuana users were equally represented in both groups. Post-treatment, significantly fewer participants reported daily marijuana use in the READY First group, prior to treatment initiation for WLC. Comparable reductions were observed once WLC began treatment. Those in WLC were observed to make reductions in their alcohol use at the same rate as those in READY First, prior to treatment initiation.
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 71 : 23-29
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Substance Use Disorders (any)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Motivational interviewing, includes Motivational Enhancing Therapy