Motivational interviewing integrated with social network counseling for female adolescents: a randomized pilot study in urban primary care

Abstract

This study tested the efficacy of a brief preventive intervention for substance use and associated risk behaviors among female adolescent patients of an urban primary care health clinic. We integrated an evidenced-based motivational interviewing (MI) approach with a social network component to develop a 20-minute session, a social network intervention delivered in an MI-consistent style. Female adolescents (N = 28) 14 to 18 years old were recruited, provided consent/assent, were screened, and were randomly assigned to the treatment or control (no treatment) condition. The sample was 82% African American and 18% mixed race, with 32% living below the U.S. poverty line. At 1-month follow-up, teens in the treatment condition reported less trouble due to alcohol use, less substance use before sexual intercourse, less social stress, less offers for marijuana use, and increased readiness to start counseling compared with the teens in the control condition. Results provide support for socially based brief interventions with at-risk urban adolescents.