Preventing OUD in Justice-Involved Youth

Summary

The United States is experiencing an opioid epidemic. Sadly, opioid-related fatalities are on the rise, causing profound emotional, financial, and cultural impacts. One way to reduce these negative impacts is to prevent people from developing opioid use problems in the first place.

Research shows that youth and young adults in the juvenile justice system have higher rates of opioid use disorder than other young people in the general population. The POST Study seeks develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness and cost of 2 opioid use prevention programs of varying intensities. The prevention programs are designed specifically for youth and young adults living in justice settings. It is implemented during the time they are transitioning out of incarceration and back into the community. The research team hopes their results will help justice settings implement their own effective opioid prevention programs in the future.

Conditions

• Substance Use Disorders
• Recidivism

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach

The Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) is a developmentally-appropriate behavioral treatment for youth and young adults ages 12 to 24 years old with substance use disorders. A-CRA seeks to increase the family, social, and educational/vocational reinforces to support recovery. This intervention has been implemented in outpatient, intensive outpatient, and residential treatment settings. A-CRA includes guidelines for three types of sessions: individuals alone, parents/caregivers alone, and individuals and parents/caregivers together. According to the individual's needs and self-assessment of happiness in multiple life areas, clinicians choose from a variety of A-CRA procedures that address, for example, problem-solving skills to cope with day-to-day stressors, communication skills, and active participation in positive social and recreational activities with the goal of improving life satisfaction and eliminating alcohol and substance use problems.

BEHAVIORAL

Assertive Continuing Care

Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) uses Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) procedures, home visits, and case management for individuals following an initial substance use treatment episode. It stresses rapid initiation of services after discharge from residential, intensive outpatient, or regular outpatient treatment in order to promote recovery and prevent relapse.

BEHAVIORAL

Trauma Affect Regulation Guide for Education and Therapy

Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy is a psychosocial intervention for traumatized adolescents, adults, and families, and for workforce and organizational responses to secondary/vicarious traumatization. T4, the 4-session version, provides education about the impact of complex traumatic stress on the brain's stress response system, and strengths-based practical skills for re-setting the trauma-related alarm/survival reactions that occur in complex PTSD.

BEHAVIORAL

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing is a collaborative, person-centered form of guiding to elicit and strengthen motivation for change.

OTHER

Opioid Education Workbook

A digital workbook designed to be completed on a computer in about 2 hours. Topics include opioid use, opioid use disorder, and prevention and treatment of opioid overdose.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Washington

  collaborator OTHER

• Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Michigan State University

  collaborator OTHER

• RTI International

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• Seattle Children's Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kym Ahrens, MD MPH · Seattle Children's Hospital

• Kevin Haggerty, MSW PhD · University of Washington

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Max Age

25 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-01-20

Primary Completion

2024-08-31

Completion

2024-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations