Enhancing Prevention Capacity With Developmental Assets and Getting to Outcomes

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

View full results

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

376 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2008-06-30

Study Completion Date

2014-03-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Alcohol and other drug use among youth is costly for communities. More research is needed about how to best support community based prevention programs and how community prevention expertise can inform the research process. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded a 5 year collaboration of the RAND Corporation, Search Institute and its training division, Vision Training Associates, Communities for Children and Youth, and the University of Southern Maine to implement and assess the impact on prevention coalitions, the combination of two complimentary, community-based interventions: Developmental Assets, which supports community mobilization and collaboration to promote positive youth development, and Getting To Outcomes (GTO), which enhances community capacity to complete critical prevention tasks (e.g., evaluation). The purpose of the project is to investigate: 1) How well is the Assets-GTO intervention delivered, how much is it used, and what coalitions think about it; 2) The extent to which the Assets-GTO approach enhances the prevention capacity (knowledge, attitudes, and skills) of individual coalition members and the quality of prevention performance; and 3) Whether enhanced prevention capacity improves alcohol and drug outcomes among youth. Twelve community-based prevention coalitions in Maine (part of Communities for Children and Youth) will participate. Six coalitions-determined at random-will receive manuals, training, and on-site technical assistance consisting of bi-Weekly meetings between A-GTO 4 ME! and key coalition staff. The other six coalitions will continue practice as usual, but will receive an abbreviated version of the Assets-GTO intervention near the end of the project. A Community Research Workgroup made of coalition representatives will review all aspects of the study and interim findings and facilitate dissemination on A-GTO 4 ME! The project will demonstrate and evaluate strategies to strengthen the prevention capacity of community organizations that can be used broadly across many types of programs.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Brief Youth Substance Use Intervention for Primary Care

NCT00292240

Alcohol Consumption Drug Abuse

COMPLETED NA

Family and Social Intervention for Young People

NCT02399865

Alcohol Misuse Drug Misuse

UNKNOWN NA

Developing Violence Prevention Therapy for Substance Abusers

NCT00551863

Substance Use Disorders Violence

COMPLETED PHASE1/PHASE2

Family and Adolescent Motivational Incentives for Leveraging Youth

NCT01736995

Substance-Related Disorders

COMPLETED NA

Substance Use Prevention for Youth With Parents in Recovery

NCT05397691

Substance Use Disorders

RECRUITING NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Alcohol and drug (AOD) use is problematic in many communities. Despite the spread of evidence-based prevention, communities still face difficulty in achieving outcomes demonstrated by prevention science. This "gap" is because resources are limited, prevention is complex, and communities often lack the capacity to adapt and implement "off the shelf" programs. Also, many evidence-based programs aim to improve deficits-- despite evidence showing the need to also promote positive youth development through community-wide efforts. Common ways to bridge this gap, such as information dissemination, fail to change practice or outcomes at the local level in part because it does not sufficiently address capacity or use community input. Therefore, building a community's prevention capacity, through greater collaboration between scientists and practitioners, with a focus on positive youth development, is a method that could improve the quality of prevention and outcomes. This project will assess the combination of two models that are specifically designed to foster such an approach: Getting To Outcomes (GTO) and Developmental Assets. They are complimentary: GTO enhances local capacity for discrete prevention tasks (e.g., evaluation); Developmental Assets supports community mobilization and collaboration to promote positive youth development. Combining the content, tools, and resources of these two SAMHSA (Best Practice) prevention planning processes has the potential to improve the quality of prevention programming and accountability more than either would do alone. Quasi - experimental and case studies of both Assets and GTO have demonstrated feasibility in community settings and yielded evidence suggesting these models can help communities mobilize and improve prevention practices and outcomes. As a next step, we propose a randomized controlled efficacy trial with elements of an effectiveness study (i.e., implementation in community-based setting) comparing 6 AOD prevention coalitions using Assets-GTO with 6 similar coalitions who are not. Such blended designs that emphasize generalizability and external validity are now recommended for community-based research. We will use a participatory research approach in which a Workgroup of coalition representatives will be actively involved in all phases of the research. Assets-GTO's impact on prevention capacity will be assessed at the program level (5 per coalition) with staff interviews and at the individual level with a Coalition Survey (each has about 54 members). A survey of schools in which the coalitions operate will assess the impact on AOD use and positive developmental outcomes among the programs' target populations. Organizational change theories will guide Assets-GTO implementation; standardized measures will track Assets-GTO adoption. Results will have implications for how to ensure that prevention programming found to be effective through research trials is successfully delivered in real world settings, a priority for NIDA and NIAAA. Project Narrative The demonstration and evaluation of the Assets-Getting To Outcomes system for the prevention of alcohol and drug (AOD) use outlined in this proposal has direct relevance to public health. This is because AOD use among youth is a significant health problem facing US communities. The Assets-Getting To Outcomes system is designed to help communities engaged in AOD prevention work to better plan, implement, and self-evaluate their prevention strategies in order to help them achieve positive results, thereby positively impacting the mortality and morbidity of youth at the local level. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The demonstration and evaluation of the Assets-Getting to Outcomes system for the prevention of alcohol and drug (AOD) use outlined in this proposal has direct relevance to public health. This is because AOD use among youth is a significant health problem facing US communities. The Assets-Getting To Outcomes system is designed to help communities engaged in AOD prevention work to better plan, implement, and self-evaluate their prevention strategies in order to help them achieve positive results, thereby positively impacting the mortality and morbidity of youth at the local level.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Substance Abuse

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

1

Cohort 1: receives the Assets Getting To Outcomes intervention first. The AGTO intervention includes three types of assistance which are adapted to fit the needs and priorities of the individuals involved, as well as the inner and outer setting: (1) a manual of text and tools; (2) face-to-face training, and (3) onsite technical assistance (TA). These three types of assistance aim to improve the implementation process for each program. Two full-time, Maine-based staff, one with a master's and one with a bachelor's degree, provided AGTO tools, training, and TA to the intervention coalitions and programs during the two year intervention period. The tools are in the Search Institute-published manual, Getting To Outcomes with Developmental Assets: Ten steps to measuring success in youth programs and communities, which all intervention participants received.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Assets Getting To Outcomes

Intervention Type OTHER

Face to Face Training Assets Getting To Outcomes Manuals Technical Assistance

2

Cohort 2: receives the Assets Getting To Outcomes intervention second, after Cohort 1 is done receiving the intervention.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Assets Getting To Outcomes

Intervention Type OTHER

Face to Face Training Assets Getting To Outcomes Manuals Technical Assistance

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Assets Getting To Outcomes

Face to Face Training Assets Getting To Outcomes Manuals Technical Assistance

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

Related to the programs of the 12 participating coalitions, the inclusion criterion is being an AOD-related universal, selective, or indicated prevention program or initiative.