Testing Strategies to Improve Substance Misuse Prevention Research Use in State Policy Contexts

NCT ID: NCT06856148

Last Updated: 2025-03-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 300 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-04-01
• Study Completion Date: 2027-03-31

Brief Summary

If science is to inform effective substance misuse prevention policy and ultimately improve public health, the field needs an effective strategy for directly supporting policymakers' use of research evidence, yet our field lacks an evidence-based model designed for this purpose. Accordingly, a state-level randomized controlled trial (N = 30 states) of a formal, theory-based approach for appropriately supporting policymakers' use of scientific evidence--known as the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) Model is proposed. This work has the potential to reduce population-level substance misuse by improving the use of scientific information in policymaking, thus increasing the availability of evidence-based prevention programs and policies.

Detailed Description

If science is to inform policy and ultimately improve public health, the field needs an effective strategy for directly supporting policymakers' use of research evidence. However, the field lacks an evidence-based model designed for supporting state policymakers' use of prevention research in crafting legislation. Instead, the field continues to largely rely on ad hoc strategies for translating prevention research (e.g., opportunistic outreach and responding to policymakers' requests if or when they are made). Accordingly, an experimental study of a formal, theory-based approach for supporting policymakers' use of scientific evidence that does not involve lobbying-the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC) Model is proposed. The RPC fosters productive engagement between the policy and research communities by implementing systematic capacity building and outreach strategies. Previous experimental work on the RPC demonstrated the ability of this model to increase engagement between researchers and policymakers, increase policymakers' value for research evidence, and improve their use of scientific evidence in their policymaking.1 The study proposes a state-level randomized controlled trial of the RPC (N = 30 state legislatures) that will evaluate the model's ability to improve engagement between state policymakers' and the prevention science community, build policymakers' awareness and value of substance misuse prevention research, and subsequently their use of research evidence throughout the policymaking process. To accomplish this, the study will test three specific research aims. Aim 1 will assess historical and current use of research evidence in state legislation pertaining to substance misuse prevention. This will involve qualitative coding of bills introduced by state legislatures over the last five years. Aim 2 will compare the frequency and quality of engagement with prevention researchers between the intervention and control conditions. Additionally, the study will assess how the RPC model influences policymakers' value and awareness of substance misuse prevention over time using a validated survey across three time points. Aim 3 will evaluate the effectiveness of the RPC on legislators' actual use of research in legislation by observing and quantifying changes in legislator behavior related to research use. Improving the use of scientific information in policymaking can reduce population-level substance misuse by increasing the availability of evidence-based prevention programs and policies.

Conditions

Substance Abuse; Substance Use Disorders; Prevention; Legislation; Use of Research Evidence

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Intervention Group

Legislative offices who receive the full Research-to-Policy Model intervention.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention: RPC Group

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The RPC model entails seven interrelated steps including a capacity building and collaboration phase. Throughout the implementation, researchers are provided direct access to intermediary support from our trained RPC fellows who facilitate RPC activity at each step coordinated by an implementation supervisor. Importantly, this model does not involve any lobbying. Consistent with NIH guidelines for grantees, the RPC instead aims to "highlight and translate public health evidence…; conduct coalition building…; provide leadership and training, and foster safe and healthful environments". Specifically, implementation of the RPC model explicitly does not attempt to influence legislative actions, but instead facilitates honest brokerage in which researchers discuss evidence without indicating opinion or stance on how legislators should change specific policies, programs, or regulations.

Control Group

Legislative Offices who do not receive the full RPC Model intervention.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Active Comparator: Control Group

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Control group participants will receive "light touch" research support, similar to previous work (e.g., an RPC associate will send publicly available research materials in response to research requests). This light touch control condition will increase responsiveness of state officials to survey follow up requests.

Interventions

Intervention: RPC Group

The RPC model entails seven interrelated steps including a capacity building and collaboration phase. Throughout the implementation, researchers are provided direct access to intermediary support from our trained RPC fellows who facilitate RPC activity at each step coordinated by an implementation supervisor. Importantly, this model does not involve any lobbying. Consistent with NIH guidelines for grantees, the RPC instead aims to "highlight and translate public health evidence…; conduct coalition building…; provide leadership and training, and foster safe and healthful environments". Specifically, implementation of the RPC model explicitly does not attempt to influence legislative actions, but instead facilitates honest brokerage in which researchers discuss evidence without indicating opinion or stance on how legislators should change specific policies, programs, or regulations.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Active Comparator: Control Group

Control group participants will receive "light touch" research support, similar to previous work (e.g., an RPC associate will send publicly available research materials in response to research requests). This light touch control condition will increase responsiveness of state officials to survey follow up requests.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• State-level public officials

Exclusion Criteria

• Anyone who is not a state-level public official

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Penn State University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Daniel Max Crowley

Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Penn State University

University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Daniel M Crowley, Ph.D

Role: CONTACT

dmc397@psu.edu

866-905-1872

Jennifer T Scott, Ph.D

Role: CONTACT

jxs1622@psu.edu

864-431-2411

Facility Contacts

D. Max Crowley, Ph.D.

Role: primary

dmc397@psu.edu

1-866-905-1872

J. Taylor Scott, Ph.D.

Role: backup

jxs1622@psu.edu

864-431-2411

Other Identifiers

R01DA056627

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

STUDY00021641

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id