The proposed B-START seeks to pilot test and refine an approach that uses randomized incentives to recruit youth into a preventive intervention geared to increase awareness about the harmfulness of inhalant drug use. Youth aged 12 to 17 will be recruited from local markets and youth """"""""hot spots"""""""" via street-intercept surveys, and a brief assessment will be administered. Then, youth will be invited to participate in a brief educational intervention on the hazards of inhalants use. Hard refusals will be offered varying incentives assigned at random (ranging from $5 to $25). The goal of this proposed investigation is to estimate the thresholds of incentives needed to induct youth into drug abuse prevention research and identify factors related to a propensity to engage in these types of programs (e.g. gender, age, history of drug involvement). In addition, this work aims to clarify if the propensity to engage in prevention programs is related to response to the intervention (i.e., do youth who are willing to participate at lower incentive thresholds have a more beneficial impact from the intervention). Traditional intervention evaluation uses the """"""""intent-to-treat"""""""" approach where all youths assigned to intervention conditions are treated as though they received intervention regardless of intervention dosage. A major shortcoming of that approach is the lack of sensitivity to those youths who never made it to the study because of selection biases, refusals to participate, and so on. This proposed investigation seeks to strengthen the body of evidence on recruitment of youth into preventive interventions as well as provide empirical data on differences in responders and nonresponders regarding levels of drug involvement and intervention response. This line of exploratory/developmental research also should have general significance and applicability in other individualized intervention programs directed toward other drugs and other health risk behaviors.
