Development of a Structured Intervention and Its Effectiveness on High-Risk Behaviors in Substance-Using Adolescents
Keywords:
Adolescence, Substance use, High-risk behaviors, Structured intervention, Mixed-methods designAbstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a structured, developmentally informed intervention and to examine its effectiveness in reducing high-risk behaviors among substance-using adolescents.
Methods and Materials: This study employed a mixed-methods sequential exploratory design. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with substance-using adolescents, clinicians, and experts to identify core psychological, familial, and social mechanisms underlying high-risk behaviors, and the findings were used to develop a structured intervention protocol. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with an intervention and a control group was implemented. Participants were adolescents with a history of substance use recruited from counseling and support centers in Shahroud. The intervention group received a structured, multi-session program focusing on emotion regulation, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, interpersonal skills, and future orientation, while the control group received routine services. Standardized self-report measures of high-risk behaviors were administered before and after the intervention.
Findings: Inferential analyses revealed a statistically significant reduction in high-risk behaviors in the intervention group compared to the control group. Repeated-measures analysis showed a significant time × group interaction, indicating that changes over time differed significantly between groups. The intervention produced large effect sizes for overall high-risk behaviors as well as for emotional, behavioral, and social risk components, demonstrating the strong impact of the structured program beyond natural change or routine care.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that a structured intervention developed through qualitative exploration and evaluated using quantitative methods can effectively reduce high-risk behaviors among substance-using adolescents. Integrating emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal components within a coherent framework appears to be a promising approach for intervention programs targeting adolescent substance use.
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