Extrait

Background and study aims Reducing youth drug use is a public health priority. There is no way of identifying people who are likely to graduate from experimenting with drugs to long-term drug use. A universal approach to drug prevention is most appropriate. ASSIST is an effective, informal peer-led intervention for smoking prevention used in many UK secondary schools. Talk to Frank is the UK national drug education service. Of the three clinical studies using peer support to prevent illicit drug use, there were low levels of intervention implementation in one, and a potentially harmful effect whereby drug use increased for high risk groups in another. These studies suggest that while peer-led drug prevention interventions are promising, modifying components may be necessary to improve peer support for drug prevention with young people. Who can participate? Year 9 pupils (aged 13-14) in UK state secondary schools, teachers and parents from participating schools, and intervention delivery staff. What does the study involve? We will adapt an effective peer-led smoking prevention intervention (called ASSIST) which is already delivered in Year 8 in many UK secondary schools. Peer supporters from ASSIST will be approached in Year 9 to continue and extend their role to cover drug use prevention, receiving further training, information and resources provided by Talk to Frank, the UK national drug education service. We will pilot ASSIST+Frank in one school. We will also develop a standalone drug prevention version of ASSIST called Frank friends which will be piloted in Year 9 in one school. Following these initial tests, we will make any necessary revisions, and conduct a clinical study with three schools receiving ASSIST+Frank, three Frank friends in Year 9, three schools just receiving just ASSIST in Year 8, and three schools acting as a control group. We will assess illicit drug use at the start of the study and after 18 months, and interview students, school and intervention delivery staff to explore the acceptability, likely mechanisms of change and effectiveness of ASSIST+Frank. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Schools participating in the evaluation will provide access to students to collect data. There will be a very limited degree of disruption to the school and students’ education to organise data collection. We will work with schools to identify appropriate methods of minimising disruption. Another potential risk is that some people might find aspects of intervention content or research data collection upsetting if they, or a significant other, have experienced a problem in relation to drug use. The study manager will work with schools to ensure a system is in place to enable appropriate support to be provided in such circumstances. There are major potential public health benefits for students, schools and wider society. If ASSIST+Frank is found to be cost-effective, the intervention will be readily implementable as an add-on to the existing ASSIST intervention. Where is the study run from? Participating schools will be based in South Wales, UK. When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? The study started in March 2014 and will run for 31 months. Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK). Who is the main contact? Dr James White, [email protected] Dr Kim Madden, [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Illicit drug use

Liens

• ictrp
• isrctn