Prevention of Substance Use in At-Risk Students: A Family-Centered Web Program

Summary

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based version of the Family Check-up (FCU). The FCU is a school-based family-centered intervention that has been developed over the past 20 years and tested across the United States with diverse populations. It focuses on enhancing parenting skills and family management in early adolescence. The FCU has been shown to be highly effective at reducing adolescent problem behavior, achievement problems, depression, and substance use over an extended period of time.

In the original FCU, parents complete an assessment that evaluates family strengths and challenges. They then receive feedback from a family consultant about how their data compare to other families with children of the same age. As part of this feedback session, the consultant helps motivate parents to make changes at home that will positively impact their child and family overall. Parents and consultants decide together which child behaviors they most want to see change. The consultant then works with parents to enhance relevant parenting and family management skills.

Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of this intervention, few schools have the resources and staffing to implement it without substantial support. It seems, then, that schools would benefit from an online package that requires fewer school resources to implement. The FCU-Online is designed to incorporate the successful components of the original FCU while reducing the burden on schools. And, because it is accessed online, parents can utilize this resource at a time and location convenient to them.

In this study, 300 families will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a web/ mobile-only version of the FCU, a web/mobile + coach version, or middle school as usual. Research on mental health interventions delivered over the internet suggests that a coach or "in-person" contact enhances outcomes. However, programs that require no coaching or in-person contact are cheaper and easier for schools to deliver. Therefore, a web/ mobile-only version may allow more schools to deliver the intervention to a greater number of families and children. Thus, investigators will test the relative effectiveness of a coach version versus an online-only version at improving key parenting skills. It is predicted that changes in parenting will lead to reductions in risk behavior, such as problem behavior at school and substance use.

Conditions

• Substance Use
• Conduct Disorders in Adolescence
• Depression
• Anxiety

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

FCU-Online, web/ mobile only

Participants will be invited to complete the FCU via the FCU-Online website. They will complete an assessment, receive computer-generated feedback, and access to skills units designed to teach parents the importance of using specific parenting skills, provide practice opportunities to try these skills, and tools to track their use of these parenting skills and any associated changes in child behavior.

BEHAVIORAL

FCU-Online, web/ mobile + coach

Participants will be invited to complete the FCU via the FCU-Online website. They will complete an assessment, receive computer-generated feedback, and access to skills units designed to teach parents the importance of using specific parenting skills, provide practice opportunities to try these skills, and tools to track their use of these parenting skills and any associated changes in child behavior. Participants will also have access to a "family coach" who will motivate parents to enhance parenting skills and provide support while they are learning to use these skills.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Oregon

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elizabeth Stormshak, PhD · University of Oregon

• John Seeley, PhD · University of Oregon

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-02-21

Primary Completion

2019-09-30

Completion

2019-09-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations