Computerized Screening and Brief Physician Advice to Reduce Teen Drinking

Computerized Screening and Brief Physician Advice to Reduce Teen Drinking

The goal of this project is to adapt a computerized Screening and Brief Advice (SBA) protocol that has demonstrated efficacy in reducing underage drinking among adolescent primary care patients and then to test it in a multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT).

The specific aims of the proposed multisite RCT are:

1. To establish the efficacy of the computerized SBA protocol on alcohol use, on DWI/RWID, and other alcohol-related health risk behaviors;
2. To test the effect of Technological Extenders (TE) on prolonging the beneficial effects of the SBA protocol;
3. To identify moderators, mediators, and optimal responders to the SBA/TE interventions;
4. To examine the association between cessation of underage drinking and other health-risk behaviors in an adolescent primary care sample.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 12-21 years old
• patients arriving for routine medical care
• provide informed assent (for those <18) or informed consent (for those 18-21)

Exclusion Criteria:

• medically or psychologically unstable at time of visit
• receiving behavioral health services
• cannot read or understand English at a 6th grade reading level
• unavailable for follow-up assessments