Screening and brief alcohol intervention to prevent hazardous drinking in adolescents aged 14–15 years in a high-school setting (SIPS JR-HIGH): a feasibility pilot trial

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 2012, Vol.380, p.S60-S60
• Main Authors: O'Neil, Stephanie, MA, Coulton, Simon, Prof, Deluca, Paolo, PhD, Deverill, Mark, PhD, Drummond, Colin, Prof, Gilvarry, Eilish, Prof, Graybill, Erin, MSc, Harle, Christine, BSc Hons, Howel, Denise, MSc, Kaner, Eileen, Prof, McArdle, Paul, FRCPSYCH, McColl, Elaine, Prof, McGovern, Ruth, PhD, Speed, Chris, BSc, Stamp, Elaine, MMATHSTAT, Tate, Les, MSc, Newbury-Birch, Dorothy, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adolescents; adults; alcohol drinking; alcohols; behavior change; college students; cost effectiveness; death; Internal Medicine; learning; mental health; motivation; parents; public health; public research; questionnaires; randomized clinical trials; recruitment; risk; school meals; schools; screening; self-efficacy; social impact; socioeconomic factors; statistical analysis; teachers; violence; watersheds
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60416-X

Abstract Background Early and heavy drinking by young adolescents is linked to intellectual impairment, increased risk of injury, mental health issues, unprotected or regretted sexual experience, violence, and sometimes accidental death. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of delivering brief alcohol intervention in a school setting with adolescents aged 14–15 years; and to examine the acceptability of study measures to staff, young people, and parents, including take-up and follow-up rates. Methods Seven schools across one geographical area in northeast England were recruited to this feasibility pilot trial. All schools within the study catchment area were judged eligible and approached to take part. Randomisation was done at the school level to reduce the chance of contamination. Allocation of schools to intervention was done by the study statistician, taking school size and socio-economic factors (proportion of free school meals) into account. Each school was randomly allocated to one of three groups: provision of an advice leaflet (control condition, two schools); a 30-min personalised session of structured advice delivered by the school learning mentor (level 1 condition, two schools); and a 60-min session with family members (level 2 condition, three schools). Trial participants were year 10 school pupils (aged 14–15 years) who screened positively for alcohol misuse with an alcohol screening questionnaire and who had consented to take part in the trial (n=181). Recruitment began on Jan 24, 2012, and finished on July 31, 2012. Statistical analyses were mainly descriptive, providing an estimate of eligibility, recruitment, intervention delivery, and retention rates in the study population. These key feasibility pilot trial parameters will inform the power calculation for a future definitive trial and confirm other aspects of trial design (particularly the acceptability of study processes and outcome measures to young people, their parents, teachers, and learning mentors). Findings This presentation focuses on the development of two manual-guided interventions for use with adolescents and parents, both of which encompass motivational interviewing principles and elements of the FRAMES approach to elicit behaviour change, which consists of the following elements: feedback, responsibility, advice, menu, empathy, and self-efficacy. Interventions were developed and piloted with young people and parents; training for learning mentors was divided into two ha