Predictors and moderators of response to brief interventions among adolescents with risky alcohol and marijuana use

Abstract

Background:Brief interventions have shown promise in reducing adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. This manuscript presents a secondary analysis of a randomized trial that compared a brief parent motivational intervention (Family Check Up; FCU) to brief psychoeducation (PE) condition and found no effect of treatment condition on either binge drinking or marijuana use days. The current analyses explored whether the response to treatment may have varied as a function of six empirically-based baseline moderators and predictors: biological sex, age, race/ethnicity, mental health problems, parent-adolescent communication, and peer deviance. Methods: Data from the parent trial randomizing 102 parents to either the FCU (n = 51) or PE (n = 51) interventions were re-analyzed across four time points (baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-months). Moderators and predictors were tested via a series of hierarchical linear models. Results: Parent-adolescent communication and peer deviance emerged as significant predictors of adolescent treatment response. Specifically, low-levels of parent-adolescent communication or peer deviance were associated with worse treatment response (i.e., significant increases in binge drinking days and marijuana use days) in the PE condition, but not in the FCU condition. Non-Hispanic Whites and girls had worse treatment response, regardless of treatment condition. Conclusions: The FCU condition appeared to mitigate risks of poor parent-adolescent communication and affiliation with deviant peers better than the PE condition. Clinical recommendations for decision-making around assignment to brief interventions are discussed.

Keywords:

• Adolescent
• brief interventions
• family checkup
• psychoeducation
• binge drinking
• marijuana

Disclosure statement

The authors report no competing interests or financial benefits relevant to this work. The views and opinions contained within this document do not necessarily reflect those of the National Institutes of Health or the US Department of Health and Human Services and should not be construed as such. The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Data availability

Data can be provided upon request by contacting Dr. Spirito.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) grant awarded to Dr. Spirito (R01 AA017659; PI Spirito, clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00925340). Manuscript preparation was supported in part by a NIAAA T32 Fellowship (T32 AA007459; PI: Monti) that covered the time of Dr. Helseth.