Validity of an online, self-administered Timeline Followback for alcohol use with adolescents

A scoping review of key domains for youth outcome measurement in alcohol and other drug treatment

INTRODUCTION

The alcohol and other drug treatment needs of young people differ from adults. It is important that outcomes measured in this client population are meaningful and use tools that are validated among young people. However, there has been no research to date that has looked at which outcomes and tools are most relevant for this population. This scoping review identifies outcome domains for young people that are supported by the research literature and clinical practice frameworks and identifies important evidence gaps. We also assessed which validated tools exists to measure these domains.

METHOD

A scoping review of peer reviewed and grey literature was undertaken. Five electronic databases for published papers and eight grey literature databases were searched. Details of studies were extracted in a table and a quality assessment was undertaken on a group level.

KEY FINDINGS

3688 publications were identified, with 38 meeting inclusion criteria being included in the final review. Overall, the quality of the evidence was satisfactory to good, except for the level of evidence component. Twelve outcome domains and 47 outcome tools were identified.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Alcohol and other drug use, peers and social networks, mental health and wellbeing and family were identified as most relevant for young people in treatment. Although many outcome tools were identified, none of the identified tools completely meet the needs of clinicians and young people in alcohol and other drug treatment (for example, too long or do not capture all domains).

Preliminary evaluation of a novel group-based motivational interviewing intervention with adolescents: a feasibility study

Drinking is closely intertwined with social life among many adolescents, particularly in Europe. Group-based interventions, such as group-based motivational interviewing (group MI), have shown the capacity to prevent and reduce hazardous drinking and related problems among adolescents, but few examinations have been conducted in a European high school setting. This study examines the preliminary outcomes of a pilot group MI intervention among Danish adolescents. High school students (ages 15-18 years) were randomly allocated to two 1-h group MI sessions delivered in a school setting (N = 65) or an assessment only control condition (N = 67). Data were collected in August and November 2020 using online self-administrated questionnaires regarding the acceptability of the intervention and past month alcohol use. The pilot group MI intervention showed high feasibility and acceptability in this setting and with this age group. Group MI adolescents significantly reduced peak drinks per drinking day compared to assessment only adolescents (-2.7 drinks, p < 0.05). Results are discussed in relation to the metrics being evaluated during COVID-19 lockdown, including increased social restrictions at follow-up compared to baseline. Group MI shows promise for reducing hazardous alcohol use among Danish adolescents. In addition, the findings indicate the importance of building on and extending this work in future larger, better-powered randomized controlled trials.