Engaging Parents to Prevent Adolescent Substance Use: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives. To test whether providing information to parents about their child's academic performance and behavior in school will lead to lower rates of adolescent substance use. Methods. We performed a randomized controlled trial in Los Angeles, California. We enrolled 318 seventh graders and their parents in 2014 and collected data through 2016. Half of the participants had parents with income less than $15 000, and 81% were Latino. During this intervention, Linking Information and Families Together, we sent parents weekly text messages, telephone calls, or e-mails about missed assignments, grades, and behavior. Parents reported their monitoring and parenting self-efficacy; students reported their use and intentions to use alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. Results. By the end of eighth grade, lifetime use of alcohol or marijuana was 18.2% in the control group and 10.2% in the intervention group (P = .02). Parenting self-efficacy, parent-child relationship, and student's grades were similar between groups. Conclusions. The intervention successfully reduced adolescent alcohol and marijuana initiation between grades 7 and 8. The intervention cost $15 per student per year but could be automated, reducing the marginal cost toward zero. The intervention holds promise as a scalable and innovative approach to reducing substance use.