Project Options: Engagement and Characteristics of Enrollees

It is estimated that by grade 12 approximately 25% of high school students will have met either abuse or dependence criteria (DSM-IV) for at least one substance, and an additional 40% will have used alcohol and/or marijuana (NIDA, 2013). A unique feature of Project Options is that participation is self-directed and open to all students. While one aim of Project Options' motivational enhancement based brief intervention is to encourage non-users to remain abstinent, the main value is its potential to reduce substance use among students who are already using. Thus, it is important to demonstrate successful enrollment and retention of substance-using students.  This paper will present baseline data describing participating students’ substance involvement.  In addition, retention and engagement in group sessions will be examined. 

Across all sites (N = 536), the self-reported prevalence of lifetime use of alcohol and marijuana was 60% and 46%, respectively; prior month use was 30% and 22%, respectively.  Current drinkers averaged 3.48 (SD=4.05) drinking days in the past month and 3.69 (SD=5.19) drinks per occasion. Among current alcohol users, the mean score of a past month alcohol consequence scale was 2.99 (SD=6.79).  Current marijuana users averaged 7.07 (SD=8.46) days using in the past month.  Thus a significant proportion of participating students are engaged in alcohol and marijuana use.

To assess retention we examined the proportion of students who returned after their first session.  Overall, 82.3% of students attended at least one additional session, with African American students returning more frequently than  White students (91.7% vs. 78.8%, p=.009).  Next we evaluated participants’ program satisfaction ratings from the initial session attended. Mean composite satisfaction scores (from 1=low satisfaction to 9=high satisfaction) were significantly higher for the MI group (M =7.33, SD=1.34) than the Control group and M=7.01, SD=1.34), respectively.  Program satisfaction was significantly higher among African Americans and marijuana never-users. No significant differences on engagement emerged for alcohol use or gender.

These findings provide initial evidence that Project Options open and voluntary enrollment format is able to attract an appreciable number of students who have already initiated alcohol and/or marijuana use and who report use-related problems.  Further, these results demonstrate success in engaging and retaining participants across intervention conditions.