Motivational Interviewing Integrated with Social Network Counseling for Teens Adolescents who live in metropolitan areas are more likely than those in non-metropolitan areas to have used marijuana and alcohol during the past year (Johnston et al., 2009). Research on the unique stressors that are placed upon urban youth who reside or are active in high-risk settings suggests that coping with these stressors can lead to substance use initiation (Costello et al., 2002). These negative coping strategies increase the likelihood of associating with peers who have similar coping strategies, lack adherence to conventional societal norms, and are more accepting of substance use as a coping or social activity (Wills, Sandy, Yaeger, Cleary, &Shinar, 2001;Hawkins, Catalano, &Miller, 1992). Social network research has suggested that peer context is a robust predictor of adolescent substance use (Mason, 2009;Mayes &Suchman, 2006;Unger, &Chen, 1999;Valente, Unger, &Johnson, 2005). Therefore, the need exists to develop and test socially-based interventions targeted at the unique population of urban youth living in high stress environments. Of significant concern is that of the adolescents who meet criteria for substance abuse or dependency, less than10% receive treatment (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2007). Efforts to find appropriate settings to address adolescent substance use have resulted in the identification of primary care as an important venue to address to this issue. Results from our NIDA R-21 investigation and four years of working with clinic staff, teens and parents has provided significant understanding and support for the salience of social networks in protecting against or exacerbating substance use. Based upon our past work and most recent findings (Mason et al., in press), we propose to address this gap by conducting a feasibility study and a clinical trial using a brief, one session intervention: motivational interviewing integrated with social network counseling (MI+SN).The purpose of this proposed research is to test the feasibility and efficacy of a brief (one session) preventive intervention for substance us among racial minority urban adolescent patients in a primary care setting. One hundred participants will be randomly assigned to either MI+SN or attention control conditions and followed for six months. The study is guided by the three following aims: 1. To assess the feasibility and success of recruiting and offering a brief, indicated preventive intervention withi public primary care settings using digital assessment and feedback. 2. To assess the efficacy of MI+SN compared to an attention control condition on substance use. 3. To assess the effects of MI+SN on referral to and time in substance use counseling compared to an attention control condition.
Motivational Interviewing Integrated with Social Network Counseling for Teens The purpose of this proposed research is to test the feasibility and efficacy of a brief (one session) preventive intervention for substance use among racial minority urban adolescent patients in a primary care setting. The relevance of this research to public health is that the proposed study targets a significant public health problem, namely, adolescent substance use. The refinement of high-quality interventions in alternative settings for at-risk urban youth is a valuable public health service with potential implications of this research impacting the general population of U.S. urban adolescents.
| Mason, Michael J; Sabo, Roy; Zaharakis, Nikola M (2017) Peer Network Counseling as Brief Treatment for Urban Adolescent Heavy Cannabis Users. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 78:152-157 |
| Mason, Michael; Light, John; Campbell, Leah et al. (2015) Peer Network Counseling with Urban Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Moderate Substance Users. J Subst Abuse Treat 58:16-24 |
