Adapting substance use brief interventions for adolescents: perspectives of adolescents living with adults in substance use disorder treatment

Figures & data

Table 1 Interview guide questions

1. Tell me a little bit about what you know about alcohol and drugs. Where did you learn this information? (probes: friends/family, TV/movies, internet, school, community programs)

a. Tell me a little bit about what you learned.

b. What did you find helpful?

c. What did you not find helpful or did not think really applied to you apply to you?

2. We are asking about this because we have a new kind of program that can teach people like you about alcohol and drug use, and we want to see how well you think it would work. The program has two steps:

a. First, a doctor would educate teenagers about alcohol and drug use and its potential impact on health.

b. Health educators (someone who is not a doctor but works in a medical center) would follow-up with teens to check in, see if there are any questions about substance use, and provide assistance if they want to cut back.

c. Do you have any questions about how this would work?

3. So I want to ask you about a program like this and ways we might want to change it. First, what do you think about having a doctor tell you about substance use?

a. Would you rather learn this information from someone else?

b. Are the health consequences of substance use something that you would be interested in learning about?

c. What else would be important for you to learn about substance use?

4. Tell me your thoughts on having a health educator (someone who is not a doctor but works in a medical center) do follow-up with you to answer questions and help you if you have questions about how to cut back on alcohol and drugs.

a. Would this kind of follow-up be helpful? Why or why not?

b. Would you rather have someone else other than a health educator do this?

5. What do you think would be the best way to do the follow-ups? (probes – in person, by phone, by text, through social media, via email)

6. Another idea we have is to have parents join in the follow-up sessions.

a. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

b. If parents are going to participate, should it be in person? Over the phone? Online? How come?

7. Tell me any other thoughts you have about substance use or the kind of program we discussed.

Table 2 Interviewee characteristics (N=18)

Age in years: mean (SD)	13.72 (2.54)
Gender
Male	6 (33.3%)
Female	12 (67.7%)
Race/ethnicity
White	1 (5.6%)
Black	3 (16.7%)
Hispanic/Latino	12 (67.7%)
Native American	1 (5.6%)
Mixed race	1 (5.6%)

Table 3 Adolescents’ preferred mode of substance use brief intervention delivery (N=18)

Telephone	13 (72.2%)
In person	7 (38.9%)
Text message	2 (11.1%)
Social media	2 (11.1%)

Note: Some respondents endorsed more than one method.