This study examines relationships between drink refusal self-efficacy (DRSE) and outcomes in Project Options (PO), an adolescent alcohol use early intervention. 1171 US high school students (39.3% Hispanic, 59.3% girls) participated in PO, reporting their demographics, alcohol use, and drinking reduction efforts at baseline, 30 days and three months later. Items from the Drug Taking Confidence Questionnaire for Adolescents (DTCQ-A) assessed DRSE. DRSE corresponded negatively with drinking at 30 days and, among drinkers, predicted fewer use reduction attempts at 30 days and three months. Results indicate that, unlike in treatment settings, DRSE may not correspond to improved early intervention outcomes.

Limited research has explored the role of in-session behavior during motivational enhancement (ME) in group formats. The current study presents initial feasibility of assessing behavior of high school students (N = 425) attending Project Options, a voluntary secondary drug and alcohol prevention program utilizing ME techniques. Building on previous research exploring client language supporting/opposing health behavior, student group behavior was coded live at the specific utterance and global level; group leader behavior was also coded globally. Interrater reliability of the coding system was assessed, and preliminary validity of the coding system was examined by exploring associations between characteristics of group members and in-session group behavior. Initial reliability estimates were excellent for the specific behavior codes. Reliability of the global codes was mixed, with raters demonstrating good reliability on support for unhealthy behavior, opposition to unhealthy behavior, and support for healthy behavior. Reliability of the group leader codes was fair to poor. Greater percent healthy talk was associated with a lower percentage of group members reporting lifetime alcohol use. The results of the current study suggest that some in-session behavior at the group level can be coded reliably via live observation and that in-session behavior at the group level is associated with alcohol use prior to attending the program. Future research is needed to explore the utility of in-session behavior in terms of predicting future behavior at the group and individual level.

Increasing access to and utilization of alcohol use services for ethnically diverse adolescents remains an important public health concern. This study examined whether a voluntary, school-based, developmentally-tailored alcohol use intervention (i.e., Project Options) engaged and retained ethnically diverse participants across three cities. The role of group and school diversity characteristics (i.e., ethnic diversity, ethnic congruence of individual and context) in engagement and retention was explored. A total of 596 participants across six schools were included in analyses. Overall, the intervention engaged and retained ethnically diverse participants consistent with each school context (79.7% returned for additional sessions). Mixed-effects logistic models demonstrated that Black/African American participants were more likely to return to the intervention compared to Non-Hispanic White, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic participants. Group and school diversity characteristics did not impact participants’ return to the intervention. Findings provide initial evidence that Project Options is adaptable to the sociocultural context of different implementation sites.

Delivering alcohol use intervention services in the school setting represents a key approach to engaging youth of all backgrounds, particularly underserved populations, in such programming. Relative progress has been made toward implementing culturally responsive services for youth; however, little is known about the role of ethnic composition on group processes purported to underlie mechanisms of change. We examined associations between ethnic group composition and therapeutic processes within a voluntary, school-based alcohol use intervention at seven schools across three cities (N groups = 353). Ethnic composition was characterized as: group ethnic diversity on a continuum, group ethnic homogeneity (i.e., where at least 66% of participants shared the same ethnicity), and comparing groups where one of the three largest ethnicities in the sample reached the majority (i.e., African-American vs. Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic white). Ratings on group processes were obtained from participants (satisfaction; belonging), facilitators (empathy; rapport), and coders (engagement; responsiveness). Mixed-effects models revealed that students in groups with African-American and Hispanic majorities reported a higher sense of satisfaction compared to groups with non-Hispanic white majorities. Facilitators endorsed expressing empathy more frequently with majority African-American and Hispanic groups than with non-Hispanic white groups. Study findings highlight the importance of considering different dimensions of ethnic composition when examining mechanisms of change in group intervention research.

Recent research highlights the role of peer victimization in students' adjustment across a variety of domains (e.g., academic, social), but less often identifies potential mediating variables. In the current study, we tested for direct effects from peer victimization to adolescents' academic behavior and alcohol use, as well as indirect effects through school belonging. Adolescents from two large samples (middle school: N = 2,808; high school: N = 6,821) self-reported on peer victimization, school belonging, academic outcomes (GPA, school truancy), and alcohol use (lifetime, past 30 days). Two-group structural equation models revealed (a) direct and indirect paths from peer victimization to academic functioning; (b) indirect, but not direct, effects through school belonging for lifetime drinking; and (c) direct and indirect effects from peer victimization to current drinking. Findings implicate school belonging as a mediator between peer victimization and important outcomes in adolescence.

Objective

This investigation examined the concurrent validity of a new video simulation assessing adolescent alcohol and marijuana decision making in peer contexts (A-SIDE).

Method

One hundred eleven youth (60% female; age 14-19 years; 80% White, 12.6% Latino; 24% recruited from treatment centers) completed the A-SIDE simulation, self-report measures of alcohol and marijuana use and disorder symptoms, and measures of alcohol (i.e., drinking motives and expectancies) and marijuana (i.e., expectancies) cognitions in the laboratory.

Results

Study findings support concurrent associations between behavioral willingness to use alcohol and marijuana on the simulation and current use variables as well as on drinking motives and marijuana expectancies. Relations with use variables were found even when sample characteristics were controlled. Interestingly, willingness to accept nonalcoholic beverages (e.g., soda) and food offers in the simulation were inversely related to recent alcohol and marijuana use behavior.

Conclusions

These findings are consistent with prior work using laboratory simulations with college students and provide preliminary validity evidence for this procedure. Future work is needed to examine the predictive utility of the A-SIDE with larger and more diverse samples of youth.

Latinx youth experience disparities in the availability of and participation in evidence-based interventions to reduce hazardous alcohol use. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to examine whether Project Options, a brief, evidence-based alcohol use intervention was beneficial for Latinx participants. A total of 331 first-, second-, and third-generation immigrant Latina and Latino youth who participated in a multi-site, hybrid effectiveness/efficacy clinical trial of the intervention were selected for analyses. Mixed-effects growth models tested changes in drinking cognitions (i.e., perception of peer drinking, intention to drink next month, alcohol use and cessation expectancies) and behaviors (i.e., number of past-month drinking days, average number of drinks per occasion, and maximum number of drinks per occasion) across three time points (i.e., baseline, 4-weeks, and 12-weeks). Consistent with prior Project Options studies, participants with more drinking experience reported greater decreases in perception of peer drinking, intentions to drink next month, and all drinking behaviors than those with less experience. While no changes were observed in expectancies, first-generation participants endorsed lower positive use expectancies than second- and third-generation youth as well as more favorable cessation expectancies than third-generation teens. In concert with prior studies demonstrating the intervention's success in recruitment and retention of Latinx participants, results suggest that Project Options might be a promising school-based intervention for Latinx youth. This intervention has the potential to reach adolescents who might otherwise not participate in traditional programming and help decrease disparities in availability of evidence-based practices for Latinx youth.