Using Technology to Reduce Youth Substance Use

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Drug Use

• Registration Number: NCT04446910
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco

Brief Summary

The research project will focus on conducting a trial of whether a tailored SMS text-messaging intervention is efficacious in improving justice-involved youths' substance use or dual diagnosis treatment attendance and engagement.

Detailed Description

The study will demonstrate how delivery of motivational/coaching messages to justice-involved youth and their caregivers will lead to greater youth substance use treatment attendance and engagement. The study will start with identifying the feasibility and acceptability of the SMS text-messaging intervention with community-supervised justice-involved youth. Then, the study will determine whether the tailored dyadic (youth and caregiver) SMS text-messaging intervention improves justice-involved youth substance use or dual diagnosis treatment attendance and engagement relative to standard of care (not receiving motivational/coaching messages). Finally, the study will characterize patterns of key justice and behavioral health system-level factors that promote or hinder eventual adoption and sustainability of mHealth technology as a tool to improve treatment attendance for justice-involved youth.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-05-01
• Study First Submitted: 2020-05-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2020-06-22
• Study First Posted: 2020-06-25
• Status Verified: 2025-04
• Primary Completion: 2025-04-01
• Study Completion: 2025-04-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-04-02
• Last Update Posted: 2025-04-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 79

Inclusion Criteria

• English-speaking youth with willing adult caregiver
• Ages 13-18
• Justice-involved while living in the community
• Own a mobile phone or tablet
• Are willing to send and receive text messages
• Are referred to community-based substance use and/or mental health treatment

Exclusion Criteria

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Treatment session attendance	180 days post baseline	Proportion of treatment sessions attended

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
First treatment session initiation	180 days post baseline	Proportion who attended first treatment session, as scheduled

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UCSF Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital; 🇺🇸 San Francisco, California, United States