Article by Tenille Metti, Former Assistant Communications Manager
So often in our conversations with policy makers, practitioners, and families across the country about preventing and reducing substance use among youth, people express a mixture of optimism and concern.
So often in our conversations with policy makers, practitioners, and families across the country about preventing and reducing substance use among youth, people express a mixture of optimism and concern. Tackling this issue can certainly make a difference but can often seem like an insurmountable task. While there has been substantial research on prevention programs, less emphasis has been placed on measuring the effect of programs working with youth who have started to use alcohol or other drugs but are not yet dependent. As recognition of addiction as a health and wellness issue increases, providers, parents, and peers are looking for new ways to engage young people in constructive approaches to prevent, delay, and reduce substance use.
Recently, the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment published a study by Dr. Emily E. Tanner-Smith and Dr. Mark W. Lipsey, “Brief Alcohol Interventions for Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” This research brought attention to the opportunity that brief interventions can provide for a youth in early stages of alcohol use. The report came after prior research on the effectiveness of outpatient substance use treatment options of adolescents: “I began to wonder whether brief interventions might be an effective strategy for addressing alcohol use among youth—a behavior that appeared more resistant to treatment efforts,” Dr. Tanner-Smith said. In other words, Dr. Tanner-Smith was interested in learning if tailored conversations, which would engage the youth in a discussion about their substance use, would be more effective in reducing substance use for youth that are just beginning to use.
The study’s findings were encouraging. Notably, Dr. Tanner-Smith finds that “interventions delivered in as short as 10 minutes can reduce alcohol use among youth…and those effects can last for up to one-year after the intervention.” The research also identified specific approaches that practitioners should implement to yield better outcomes. They found that interventions were particularly effective when young people listed the pros and cons of drinking, set goals for reducing their alcohol use, or compared their alcohol use to same-age peers. “I believe these strategies may be particularly salient for adolescents because they tailor the intervention content to the unique needs and goals of each youth,” Dr. Tanner-Smith said, “These personalized, interactive prevention strategies will be more engaging for youth, compared to the didactic, non-interactive approaches that rely solely on the provision of information.”
These findings are in line with the Foundation’s Youth Substance Use Prevention and Early Intervention strategic initiative, which focuses on Screening, Brief Interventions, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for youth ages 15-22. The Foundation is partnering with 30+ grantees to research and implement SBIRT to delay and reduce substance use in adolescents, to ensure early use does not escalate to substance use disorder. “Intervening early and interrupting these trajectories offers the greatest promise for ensuring the positive development of youth,” Dr. Tanner-Smith said, “Brief interventions are particularly attractive to practitioners given their ease of implementation, transportability across different settings, low cost, and low time commitment.” We agree and believe SBIRT is an effective model for improving the lives of vulnerable young people in our society, setting them on a path to success.