Screening and Brief Advice to Reduce Teen Substance Use

Study Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a brief intervention for alcohol and drug use in adolescents that a primary care doctor can give in his/her office. The study will be conducted in nine primary care offices in three New England states, and in ten pediatric offices in Prague, Czech Republic (CZR). We hypothesize that: 1. Among 12-18 year old well care patients who screen positive for drug/alcohol use, the experimental intervention administered by trained primary care providers will be more effective than standard care in decreasing drug and alcohol use; 2. Among 12-18 year old well care patients who screen negative for drug/alcohol use, the experimental intervention administered by trained primary care providers will be more effective than standard care in decreasing initiation of drug and alcohol use as measured by self-reports of substance use; 3. Among 12-18 year old well care patients who are at risk for riding with an impaired driver or driving while impaired, the experimental intervention administered by trained primary care providers will be more effective than standard care in decreasing Riding/Driving risk behavior as measured by a standardized scale.

Primary Outcome

Among the 12-18 year old primary care patients who reported past-12-month drug or alcohol use at baseline in New England, USA, this analysis reports the number who subsequently reported past-90-day drug or alcohol use at the 3 months post-baseline assessment.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL cSBA - New England, USA
• BEHAVIORAL cSBA - Prague, CZR