Brief Motivational Interviewing Intervention Shows Promise for Reducing Teen Marijuana Use

Teens who experience problems from using alcohol and other drugs are at risk for having substance abuse disorders later in life. Most teens, however, do not seek help for their substance use. RAND developed and pilot-tested an intervention for a primary care setting to reach at-risk teens. The intervention, Project CHAT, consisted of a 15-minute motivational interviewing intervention. Using motivational interviewing techniques, such as expressing empathy and supporting self-efficacy, can help address barriers, such as stigma, and youth concerns about talking to someone about their substance use. Motivational interviewing is well-suited for an adolescent population because it emphasizes an interactive process in which people are active participants, thus increasing the probability that the intervention will be both culturally appropriate and acceptable to adolescents.

The pilot test was conducted in a community-based primary care facility located in Los Angeles County. Eighty-one youths were screened into the study on the basis of possible substance use problems and randomized to receive either Project CHAT or usual care. Forty-two teens (86% Hispanic and 52% female) completed the study.

Three months later, Project CHAT teens reported lower intentions to use marijuana in the next six months than usual care teens and, in the previous month, less frequent marijuana use in days on which they had used it. There may also have been fewer days of use in the previous month, but the sample was small and the trends were not statistically significant. Project CHAT teens also reduced their alcohol use compared to usual teens, although these results were not statistically significant either.  Effect sizes, however, were in the moderate to large range for most outcomes, emphasizing the clinical significance of this intervention. As many teens visit their primary care provider, this promising intervention is an innovative way to reach many at-risk youth during a regularly scheduled primary care appointment.

Source:

Brief Motivational Interviewing for Teens at Risk of Substance Use Consequences: A Randomized Pilot Study in a Primary Care Clinic

Elizabeth J. D'Amico, Jeremy N. V. Miles, Stefanie A. Stern, Lisa S. Meredith

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