Reducing Engagement in Risky Health Behaviors Among Early Adolescents

Introduction: Drug use during adolescence is not uncommon, with initiation typically occurring prior to the age of 13. Such behaviors are of great concern given its association with increased risk for health and social consequences across development. Moreover, youth who exhibit a personality trait called urgency – the tendency to rash action due to intense positive and negative mood states, are at even higher risk of engagement in risky behaviors, including drug use. Studies have shown that risk can be reduced through implementation of school-based programs that incorporate emotion regulation, social, and academic components.  The aim of this study is to provide pilot data for the use of a brief affect-based intervention in a school-based setting aimed at reducing risk-taking behavior, including drug use, among middle school students.

Methods: 33 students from an urban middle school in the Southeastern United States participated in the intervention program. The majority of participants were female (58%), African American (70%), and 12 years old (46%). The intervention was a 9-week adaptation of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and included social skills, anger management, and goal-setting techniques. Pre and post assessments were obtained including personality (i.e., urgency traits), and the likelihood to engage in risky behaviors, including drug use (i.e., alcohol, tobacco, misused prescriptions, and other drugs).

Results: Consistent with previous studies, urgency traits were significantly correlated with pre-treatment general risk-taking behaviors (positive urgency (PU): r=0.44, p<. 05; negative urgency (NU): r=0.71, p<. 01) and drug use (PU: r= 0.34, p< .05; NU: r= 0.33, p= .05). Although findings indicated a reduction in participants’ likelihood to engage in risky behaviors by the end of treatment, differences did not reach statistical significance. However, significant changes were found in relation to personality, with participants higher on the negative urgency trait reporting steeper decreases in the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors by the end of treatment compared to those lower on the trait (r = 0.62, p<. 01).                                                  

Conclusion: The findings from this pilot study provide evidence for the acceptability and feasibility of conducting a 9-week school-based intervention to reduce risk-taking behavior, including drug use, among middle school students. Furthermore, findings indicate that this program may be particularly beneficial for youth who exhibit negative urgency personality traits. Future studies will expand on this study by increasing sample size to examine the efficacy of the intervention at reducing risk-taking behaviors among a diverse sample of youth.