The middle school years are peak years for initiation of alcohol and marijuana (Johnston et al., 2004). Unfortunately, most youth who engage in substance use and experience problems are unlikely to voluntarily make use of formal prevention services (D'Amico, 2005;Johnson et al., 2001;Wu et al., 2003). A small body of recent research suggests that youth may benefit from less formal programs that are brief, voluntary, and easily accessible (Brown, 2001;Brown et al., 2005;D'Amico et al., 2004;D'Amico &Orlando, 2005). However, very few intervention programs of this type have been developed (Little and Harris, 2003). Thus, while this approach shows promise, the impact of intervention programs that younger teens may choose to attend has not been extensively examined. One such intervention, Project CHOICE, was developed and tested by the PI using NIAAA funding for developmental work (R21AA13284-01). Project CHOICE is the only voluntary intervention that has been tested for middle school youth and our small quasi-experimental study has demonstrated its efficacy in one school setting (D'Amico et al., 2005;D'Amico &Orlando, 2005). The Project CHOICE intervention addresses several critical gaps in the field, including beginning to understand voluntary service utilization among this age group and assessing how this type of program may impact school-wide use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD). The main objective of the proposed 5-year longitudinal study is to build on our initial work by conducting a more rigorous test of Project CHOICE. The study will include 16 middle schools, located in the ethnically diverse Southern California cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and Torrance. These schools will be randomly assigned as intervention (n= 8) or control (n = 8). We will first examine individual-level effects by testing whether Project CHOICE affects AOD-related outcomes among students who participate in the intervention. We will then examine school-level effects by testing whether AOD rates among all students in the intervention schools are affected, regardless of participation. We assume that these school-level effects will be due to changes in the school environment (e.g., Project CHOICE advertising, discussion of Project CHOICE among students, changes in social norms). In anticipation of this school-level impact, a secondary objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of who participates in Project CHOICE, as well as how these participants and changes in the school environment may influence the attitudes and behaviors of those who do not participate. This research incorporates a novel methodology for AOD involvement, as it emphasizes personal self-change efforts and natural recovery and is appealing to both using and non-using youth. The work proposed in this application represents the important next step in this line of research: to more critically evaluate Project CHOICE and its potential impact on both school-wide and individual outcomes with a larger population of youth.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01AA016577-04S1
Application #
8115479
Study Section
Health Services Research Review Subcommittee (AA)
Program Officer
White, Aaron
Project Start
2007-09-28
Project End
2012-06-30
Budget Start
2010-08-17
Budget End
2011-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$49,949
Indirect Cost
Name
Rand Corporation
Department
Type
DUNS #
006914071
City
Santa Monica
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90401
Tucker, Joan S; Shih, Regina A; Pedersen, Eric R et al. (2018) Associations of Alcohol and Marijuana Use With Condom Use Among Young Adults: The Moderating Role of Partner Type. J Sex Res :1-8
Dunbar, Michael S; Tucker, Joan S; Ewing, Brett A et al. (2018) Ethnic Differences in Cigarette Use Trajectories and Health, Psychosocial, and Academic Outcomes. J Adolesc Health 62:327-333
Troxel, Wendy M; Tucker, Joan S; Ewing, Brett et al. (2018) Sleepy Teens and Energy Drink Use: Results From an Ethnically Diverse Sample of Youth. Behav Sleep Med 16:223-234
Dunbar, Michael S; Davis, Jordan P; Rodriguez, Anthony et al. (2018) Disentangling Within- and Between-Person Effects of Shared Risk Factors on E-cigarette and Cigarette Use Trajectories From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood. Nicotine Tob Res :
D'Amico, Elizabeth J; Rodriguez, Anthony; Tucker, Joan S et al. (2018) Planting the seed for marijuana use: Changes in exposure to medical marijuana advertising and subsequent adolescent marijuana use, cognitions, and consequences over seven years. Drug Alcohol Depend 188:385-391
Shih, Regina A; Parast, Layla; Pedersen, Eric R et al. (2017) Individual, peer, and family factor modification of neighborhood-level effects on adolescent alcohol, cigarette, e-cigarette, and marijuana use. Drug Alcohol Depend 180:76-85
Pedersen, Eric R; Osilla, Karen Chan; Miles, Jeremy N V et al. (2017) The role of perceived injunctive alcohol norms in adolescent drinking behavior. Addict Behav 67:1-7
Dunbar, Michael S; Tucker, Joan S; Ewing, Brett A et al. (2017) Frequency of E-cigarette Use, Health Status, and Risk and Protective Health Behaviors in Adolescents. J Addict Med 11:55-62
Tucker, Joan S; Troxel, Wendy M; Ewing, Brett A et al. (2016) Alcohol mixed with energy drinks: Associations with risky drinking and functioning in high school. Drug Alcohol Depend 167:36-41
Mizel, Matthew L; Miles, Jeremy N V; Pedersen, Eric R et al. (2016) To Educate or To Incarcerate: Factors in Disproportionality in School Discipline. Child Youth Serv Rev 70:102-111

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