SynthesisSubstance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy2012
Effectiveness of early interventions for substance-using adolescents: findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 133 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gas station heroin- tianeptine and its impact: a systematic review and exploratory analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Longitudinal modifiable risk and protective factors of internet gaming disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2023Pooled it
- More behavioral recommendations produce more change: A meta-analysis of efficacy of multibehavior recommendations to reduce nonmedical substance use.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2020Pooled it
- Can brief alcohol interventions for youth also address concurrent illicit drug use? results from a meta-analysis.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2015Pooled it
- Effectiveness of brief school-based interventions for adolescents: a meta-analysis of alcohol use prevention programs.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2015Pooled it
- Alcohol screening and brief intervention for adolescents: the how, what and where of reducing alcohol consumption and related harm among young people.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)Pooled it
- Acceptability and Feasibility of a Virtual Family-Based Single-Session Intervention for Young Teens at High Risk for Substance Use Disorder: Single-Arm Pilot Trial.JMIR formative research · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Disease-Tailored Brief Intervention for Alcohol Use Among Youths With Chronic Medical Conditions: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Universal School-Based Substance Use Prevention Using Technology-Supported Cooperative Learning.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2024Trial
- The Association of Recurrent and Multiple Types of Abuse with Adverse Mental Health, Substance Use, and Sexual Health Outcomes among Out-of-School Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Cape Town, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- The key therapeutic factors needed to deliver behavioural change interventions to decrease risky substance use (drug and alcohol) for looked after children and care leavers: a qualitative exploration with young people, carers and front line workers.BMC medical research methodology · 2019Trial
- Evaluation of the effects of a designated program on illegal drug cessation among adolescents who experiment with drugs.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2018Trial
- Trial
- Peer Network Counseling with Urban Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial with Moderate Substance Users.Journal of substance abuse treatment · 2015Trial
- Social Media Use Trajectories and Substance Use Experimentation: A Prospective Cohort Study.The American journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
- Prevalence and correlates of substance use among middle and high school students in Settat Province, Morocco.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2026Article
- Blunted reward-related striatal activity and behavioral disinhibition as a pathway to adolescent cannabis and e-cigarette use.Frontiers in adolescent medicine · 2026Article
- An investigation of university students' perspectives on combating addiction: a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- An examination of the impact of treatment on later risk for a substance use disorder in young people with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInformation on the impact of available interventions that address adolescent substance use and delinquency can inform investment choices. This article aims to identify and evaluate early interventions that target adolescent substance use as a primary outcome, and criminal or delinquent behaviours as a secondary outcome.
methodA systematic review of early interventions for adolescent substance use and behavioural outcomes was conducted.
resultsWe identified nine studies using specific search strategies. All but one of the studies reported the use of brief intervention strategies. Only seven studies contained information which allowed for the calculation of an effect size, and were therefore included in the meta-analysis. The overall effect size for all outcomes combined was small but significant (g = 0.25, p < 0.001). The overall outcome for substance use was also small but significant (g = 0.24, p < 0.001). For studies with behavioural outcomes, the overall effect size reached significance (g = 0.28, p < 0.001). In general, subgroup analysis showed that individual interventions with more than one session had a stronger effect on the outcomes of interest.
conclusionsEarly interventions for adolescent substance use do hold benefits for reducing substance use and associated behavioural outcomes. Interventions are most promising if delivered in an individual format and over multiple sessions. One intervention in particular had large effect sizes. As all the interventions were tested in developed countries, further testing is needed in low- and middle-income countries where there is a lack of research on evidence-based interventions for adolescent risk behaviours. Additional recommendations for policy and practice are provided in this paper.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.