Project e-PBI+ - Parent Intervention to Reduce College Student Drinking and Cannabis Use
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-19
SponsorPenn State University
About this trial
College students' risky drinking and cannabis use are major public health problems. The harms associated with risky drinking have been well-documented (such as deaths, blackouts, injuries, assaults, arrests, sexual consequences, academic consequences). Both college health administrators and parents have requested electronic parent-based interventions (e-PBIs) with additional content on cannabis. Parents have demonstrated ample motivation to communicate with their teens. The proposed research will attempt to enhance an existing effective e-PBI, curb the alarming trends noted in the literature, and move the field forward by conducting a randomized controlled trial testing a modified version of the e-PBI that includes updated content including the most up-to-date scientific information from cannabis studies (e-PBI+).
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Parent and teen both consent and complete baseline (forming a dyad testing unit)
Disqualifiers
Outside of the teen age range; both parent and teen do not consent and complete baseline
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
e-PBI+
BehavioralThe e-PBI+ is a preventive parent-based intervention emphasizing parent-teen communication on drinking/risks of alcohol abuse, with the addition of data-driven cannabis content to guide parent communications with their students (e.g., cannabis content focusing on the endocannabinoid system; acute and chronic cannabis use effects on the brain, cognition, and development; THC potency in present-day cannabis; cannabis use effects on mental and physical health, including psychosis, depression, and anxiety; respiratory/cardiovascular/sleep problems; cannabidiol (CBD) content, myths; and cannabis effects on psychosocial function). Together the goals are to reduce alcohol and cannabis use in college students.
e-PBI
BehavioralThe e-PBI is currently a model prevention resource at NIAAA's College Alcohol Intervention Matrix and the research was discussed in the most recent Surgeon General's Report as one of two prevention approaches that met the rigorous criteria to be considered "efficacious". The first section of the e-PBI provides an introduction to the problem of substance use. The second section focuses on specific skill building strategies that parents can use to improve communication channels with their teen. Third is a section that addresses peer influence and provides strategies for developing assertiveness. The fourth section is an in-depth discussion of underage drinking, physiological and psychological effects, mixing alcohol with other drugs, motives for why students drink and don't drink, warning signs, risky binge-type drinking, impaired driving, riding with impaired drivers, alcohol and sexual assault, and how to communicate about parents' experiences when they were young.
Treatment groups
2,425 Participants
are divided into 3 treatment groupsGroup A: e-PBI+Experimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: e-PBIExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group C: e-ACNo intervention 0 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Examine Changes in Alcohol Use
A standard drink definition will be provided, indicating that a standard drink consists of 12 oz. of beer or wine cooler, 8.5 oz. of malt liquor, 4 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz. of hard liquor. Using the Timeline Followback (TLFB; Sobell \& Sobell, 1996), participants will indicate how many drinks they consumed on each day of the past three months. For days alcohol was consumed, participants will also note the number of hours spent drinking.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month2
Examine Changes in Cannabis Use
Self-reported measures of retrospective cannabis use will be collected via the TLFB calendar with modifications that incorporate current methods of consumption (e.g., joint, blunt, pipe/bowl, bong, edible, vaporizer cartridges, concentrate \[including wax, oil, rosin, capsules, and tinctures\], and other) and amount (e.g., in grams/mg).
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 monthSecondary outcomes
1
Examine Changes in Consequences of Alcohol Use
Alcohol-related consequences (e.g., said or done embarrassing things, blackout) from the past three months will be measured using the established Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire (BYAACQ; Read, Kahler, Strong, \& Colder, 2006). Response options will be measured on a 7-point scale ranging from (0) no, not in the past 3 months to (6) 11 or more times in the past 3 months.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month2
Examine Changes in Consequences of Cannabis Use
Participants will be asked to report on the frequency of experiencing a variety of cannabis-related consequences (e.g., neglected obligations, driven a car high) within the past three months using the Marijuana Consequences Questionnaire (MACQ; Simons, Dvorak, Merrill, \& Read, 2012). Response options will be measured on a 7-point scale ranging from (0) no, not in the past 3 months to (6) 11 or more times in the past 3 months
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month3
Examine Changes in Co-Use of Alcohol and Cannabis Use
Days on the TLFB when participants report using both alcohol and cannabis will be identified as co-use days.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 monthOther outcomes
1
Examine Changes in Parental Communication
Parental communication about alcohol, cannabis, and consequences of using alcohol and cannabis will be assessed separately for mothers and fathers. Participants will be asked how often their parent discussed these topics with them within the past three months. Response options will be measured on a 5-point scale ranging from (0) not at all to (4) a great deal.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month2
Examine Changes in General Parental Practices
General communication (e.g., my mother/father is there for me when I want to talk) will be assessed separately for mothers and fathers based on level of agreement on a 7-point scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month3
Examine Changes in Alcohol Use Motives
Motives will be assessed for using alcohol (e.g., to be sociable; Cooper, 1994). Response options range from (1) almost never/never to (5) almost always/always.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month4
Examine Changes in Cannabis Use Motives
Motives will be assessed for using cannabis (e.g., to relieve boredom; Lee et al., 2009). Response options range from (1) Almost never/never to (5) Almost always/always.
Time frame
Baseline, 3 month, 6 month, 9 monthSponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov