The Cultural Adaptation of an Alcohol and Other Drug Use Treatment for Black Justice Involved Youth

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to better understand how ethnic and racial discrimination (ERD) affects alcohol and drug use among Black youth involved in the justice system. Black justice-involved youth (JIY) face higher risks of using alcohol and cannabis as coping mechanisms due to ERD and police brutality. The study focuses on this group because they are less likely to receive or benefit from substance use treatment compared to other youth and experience more severe effects from early substance use. The study involves individual interviews with Black JIY and focus groups with their guardians and community advocates to gather insights. Using this information, researchers will culturally adapt an adolescent substance use intervention called the Cannabis Youth Treatment Series (CYT), which uses motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (MET/CBT12) to reduce alcohol and cannabis use. This adapted intervention will be piloted with 30 Black JIY to assess how feasible and acceptable it is. Participants will be involved in interviews, focus groups, and the pilot intervention, with assessments conducted at baseline, after each session, at study completion, and up to six months post-intervention. Researchers will measure changes in substance use, mental health symptoms, and discrimination distress. The main outcomes studied are the feasibility and acceptability of the adapted treatment, with follow-up averaging three to six months after the study ends. The entire study runs until August 2027.

Cultural Adaptation of Drug Treatment for DJJ Youth