NCT02737696

Brief Summary

The investigators are developing an interactive, web-based program for youth ages 12-17 focused on the prevention of prescription opioid abuse because to the investigators knowledge, no science-based, interactive program focused on the prevention of prescription opioid abuse among youth exists. This program is grounded in a scientific understanding of risk factors for prescription opioid abuse among youth, employs informational technologies which are effective in promoting relevant knowledge and skills, and presents program content using strategies shown to be highly appealing to adolescents. In the completed Phase 1 of this project, the investigators developed and demonstrated the scientific, technical and commercial merit and feasibility of a prototype of a web-based, prescription opioid abuse prevention program for youth. In Phase 2, the investigators will complete the development of all components of the multimedia, prescription opioid abuse prevention program and conduct a randomized, controlled trial with youth to evaluate the effectiveness of the web-based prevention intervention in increasing knowledge about key issues relevant to prescription opioid abuse among youth, skills acquisition relevant to preventing their misuse, negative attitudes about prescription opioid misuse, and perceived risk associated with their misuse. The investigators will also assess the program's effectiveness in reducing intentions to misuse prescription opioids. If this tool is shown to be effective, the investigators plan to embed it in a suite of science-based, technology-delivered tools focused on the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders that have been developed and deployed in a wide array of settings by the investigative team.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
435

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started May 2017

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

March 14, 2016

Completed
1 month until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

April 14, 2016

Completed
1.1 years until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

May 15, 2017

Completed
10 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

March 18, 2018

Completed
6 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

September 18, 2018

Completed
Last Updated

December 19, 2020

Status Verified

December 1, 2020

Enrollment Period

10 months

First QC Date

March 14, 2016

Last Update Submit

December 16, 2020

Conditions

Keywords

prescription opioidpreventioncomputer-basedadolescent

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Negative attitudes and perceived risk associated with their misuse

    Perceived Risk of Prescription Opioid Misuse: Participants will be asked how much they think youth risk harming themselves if they try prescription opioids for non-medical purposes (e.g., ranging from "no risk" to great risk"). Questions will be modeled after the national Monitoring the Future study. Perceived risk about substances has been shown in this work to be inversely related to their use (MonitoringtheFuture.org).

    7 months

Secondary Outcomes (4)

  • Intentions to use prescription opioids

    7 months

  • Rates of prescription opioid use.

    7 months

  • Knowledge about key issues relevant to prescription opioid abuse among youth

    7 months

  • Skill acquisition relevant to preventing misuse of prescription opioids (decision making/refusal skills)

    7 months

Study Arms (2)

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants in this group will have access to Drug Enforcement Administration's website (JustThinkTwice.gov). The JustThinkTwice website is educational (a large percentage of the website content focuses on opioids) with a menu including: Drug Information, True Stories (of youth who have lost their lives to drugs), Consequences, Facts/Statistics, Videos (e.g., the Life of an Opiate Addict, and Synthetic Drugs), and a brief Quiz. Youth in this group will be informed that they will be prompted (by email and phone; described below) when the next online survey is available to complete. Youth will be asked to use this website for 30 minutes, twice per week (for a total of 60 minutes per week) for about 3-4 weeks.

Behavioral: JustThinkTwice.gov website (DEA)

Experimental

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants assigned to the "Web-based prescription opioid prevention for adolescents" will immediately (post-group assignment) be asked to start completing modules. All youth can choose to access modules in any order. Youth will be encouraged to complete 1-2 modules per login, 2x/week (about 30 mins. minimum per login to parallel the manner in which other evidence-based prevention programs have been provided to youth. We do not plan to place an artificial constraint on module access but will encourage youth to use the flexible, web- based tool in a manner that is most useful to them. In our experience providing online interventions, we expect that most youth will complete all 9 modules within 3-4 weeks.

Behavioral: Web-based prescription opioid prevention for adolescents

Interventions

The intervention focuses on individual skills factors (e.g., promoting accurate knowledge about risks), as well as peer and societal influences on prescription opioid abuse (e.g., training skills to refuse offers to misuse opioids). When accessing the program, users see pictures of youth who have been in treatment for opioid dependence, and may choose to click on links to: 1) listen to or read real stories of problematic involvement with prescription opioids, 2) view youth' trajectories of important decision points related to prescription opioid misuse, 3) view videos that provide key information or teaches a skill that might help a young person make healthier choices (e.g., refusing offers to misuse prescription opioids), 4) or take quizzes to assess information/skill acquisition.

Experimental

The JustThinkTwice.com website is educational (a large percentage of the website content focuses on opioids) with a menu including: Drug Information, True Stories (of youth who have lost their lives to drugs), Consequences, Facts/Statistics, Videos (e.g., the Life of an Opiate Addict, and Synthetic Drugs), and a brief Quiz.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

Age12 Years - 17 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsChild (0-17)

You may qualify if:

  • Youth 12-17 years,
  • Willing to use the study website to complete assessments and participate in the intervention,
  • With access to a computer with an Internet connection and the ability to hear audio,
  • Who assent to participate, and
  • Whose parents accept our phone call to confirm the youth's interest in participating and who sign and return the consent form.

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Center for Technology and Behavioral Health

Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03766, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Marsch LA, Moore SK, Grabinski M, Bessen SY, Borodovsky J, Scherer E. Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Web-Based Program (POP4Teens) to Prevent Prescription Opioid Misuse Among Adolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Feb 25;7(2):e18487. doi: 10.2196/18487.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Opioid-Related Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Narcotic-Related DisordersSubstance-Related DisordersChemically-Induced DisordersMental Disorders

Study Officials

  • Lisa A Marsch, PhD

    Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Psychiatric Research Center, Dartmouth College

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
PREVENTION
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Director of the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

March 14, 2016

First Posted

April 14, 2016

Study Start

May 15, 2017

Primary Completion

March 18, 2018

Study Completion

September 18, 2018

Last Updated

December 19, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-12

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

Locations