Session: Project Options: Preliminary Findings from an Innovative School-Based Secondary Intervention for Youth Alcohol Use (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

SESSION INTRODUCTION: The goal of this symposium session is provide an overview of study design and present preliminary findings from Project Options,  a voluntary, school-based brief intervention that targets hazardous drinking. Project Options is being tested in three cities (Miami, Florida; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Portland, Oregon) at six socioculturally and ethnically diverse schools. This multi-site study compares a motivational technique enhanced intervention for adolescent alcohol problems to an educational control condition. The developmentally sensitive intervention being evaluated integrates empirically-supported cognitive-behavioral intervention components with motivational-enhancement techniques  to increase student engagement and support autonomous decision making regarding alcohol (and other drug) use. Measures are taken at the 1st session attended and again 4 and 12 weeks later to determine effectiveness of the intervention to promote change efforts and arrest progression of alcohol problems. Project Options is currently in its third year. 

The first paper discusses Project Options as a Practical Clinical Trial, elucidating how this multi-site trial is designed to be a real world evaluation of reach and effectiveness. Conditions for conducting an efficacy-effectiveness hybrid RCT will be discussed along with implementation questions addressed by this design. Strategies for addressing key parameters, such as adaptations across settings and fidelity, will be described.

A unique feature of Project Options is that participation is voluntary and open to all students. The second paper addresses whether the voluntary nature of Project Options succeeds in attracting and engaging a diverse group of adolescents. This presentation describes demographic and substance use characteristics of students attending Project Options sessions. In addition, we examine student engagement, retention, and related factors across study sites.

The third paper discusses evidence for efficacy and effectiveness of Project Options.  Findings from initial studies providing evidence for efficacy of Project Options will be reviewed. Preliminary findings will be presented comparing conditions on proximal (change cognitions) and distal (alcohol use behaviors and problems) outcomes.

At the conclusion of the presentations, the discussant will provide a summary and discuss policy implications of the study. He will also moderate a discussion between the presenters and the symposium attendees. It is expected that the novel approach to prevention exemplified by Project OPTIONS as well as implications for dissemination and implementation will be of interest to SPR Annual Meeting participants.