Extending SBIRT Though Peer Support for Adolescents at Risk of Substance Use

Introduction/Purpose: To evaluate feasibility and potential effectiveness of Project Amp, an innovative brief mentorship prevention and early intervention approach using a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) framework.

Methods: Project Amp is a brief mentorship intervention to support youth who screen as moderate risk for substance use using Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). In each of the six enrollment sites including primary care and school-based settings, 20 adolescents and 3-5 mentors are recruited to participate in Project Amp. Eligible youth are 13 to 17 years old and screened at moderate risk for substance use issues using the CRAFFT screening tool. They are connected with a young adult mentor who is 18 to 28 years old and is in recovery from problem substance use. Mentors are recruited and screened through young adult recovery communities and trained in motivational interviewing, cultural congruence, prevention messaging, and other key skills as well as the implementation of the Project Amp intervention. Mentors draw upon their own experiences achieving resiliency and wellness to guide youth through the intervention. The intervention, Project Amp, includes four one-hour mentorship sessions that explore self-directed goals, wellness, social pressures, and community supports. Project Amp aims to enhance positive social connections, wellness, and self-efficacy to reduce risk for future substance use.

Youth participants and mentors complete pre and post intervention surveys and participate in focus groups to assess reception and potential efficacy. Site staff will also participate in a focus group to assess the recruitment and feasibility.

Results: While preliminary results will be available in Spring 2017, early feasibility and implementation results have shown that over half of all adolescents who are offered Project Amp choose to enroll, parents offer consent, the sites benefit from SBIRT implementation support and data, and mentors apply and stay engaged in the mentorship commitment. Challenges include the ability of youth to complete all four intervention sessions, difficulty reaching parents for consent, and struggle for settings to implement SBIRT outside of the intervention engagement period.

Conclusions: Feasibility data from this pilot study will contribute to future research on peer-delivered, SBIRT-based substance use prevention models, the role of young adults in delivering brief interventions to adolescents, and the utility of an extended brief intervention in reducing substance use among moderate risk adolescents in various settings.