A feasibility trial of alcohol screening and brief interventions for risky drinking in young people in a high school setting in the UK: SIPS jr-high

Newbury-Birch, D. and O'Neil, S. and Gilvarry, E. and Howel, D. and Stamp, E. and Laing, K. and McColl, E. and McGovern, R. and Harle, L.C. and O'Donnell, A. and Coulton, Simon and DeLuca, P. and Drummon, C. and McArdle, P. and Kaner, E. (2013) A feasibility trial of alcohol screening and brief interventions for risky drinking in young people in a high school setting in the UK: SIPS jr-high. In: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. John Wiley & Sons (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided)

Abstract

Background: While the overall proportion of young people (YP) drinking alcohol in the UK has been shown to have decreased in recent years, YP who drink appear to drink more frequently and at a larger amount. This pilot feasibility trial aimed to explore the feasibility of delivering brief alcohol intervention using MI principles in a school setting. Methods and Design: Seven schools across one small geographical area in North East England were recruited. Participants were UK Year 10 pupils (aged 14-15) who screened positive for alcohol misuse using an alcohol screening questionnaire and who consented to take part in the trial. Trial participants will be followed up at 12 months (feb 2013). Each school was randomly allocated to one of three intervention conditions: provision of an advice leaflet (control condition); a 30-minute session of structured advice using MI principles L1 (level 1 condition) and the level 1 condition followed by a 60-minute session usingMI principles involving family members L2 (level 2 condition). Results: 87% (1280) YP completed the screening questionnaire. Of these 60% were negative (772). A further 21%were positive but the YP did not leave their name. 229 were invited to take part in the trial (control 60; L1 79; L2 90). 181 consented and took part in the trial [79%](control 53; L1 53; L2 75). All those in the L1 condition received the intervention. For the 75 in the L2 condition all received the L1 intervention and 25 (33%) agreed to their parents being contacted. Parent meetings were held with 8 families (32%). Qualitative work showed that the intervention was acceptable in the school environment and that alcohol use by YP was not always viewed as a problem by the YP themselves, their parents or staff. Discussion: Results from this feasibility trial will inform the development of a definitive RCT to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening and brief alcohol intervention to reduce hazardous drinking in adolescents in a school setting. However results fromthis study indicate that parental involvement in the school setting may not be feasible. This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) programme (project number 10/3002/07). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the PHR programme, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health.

Item Type:	Conference or workshop item (Poster)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare > HV5001 Alcohol use and miuse R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Divisions:	Faculties > Social Sciences > School of Social Policy Sociology and Social Research > Centre for Health Services Studies
Depositing User:	Tony Rees
Date Deposited:	20 Aug 2014 10:46 UTC
Last Modified:	04 Mar 2015 13:53 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/42490 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)