Collecting Social Media Information in a Substance Use Intervention Trial With Adolescent Girls With Lifetime Substance Use History: Observational Study.

Lili M C Ramos,Marina Tolou-Shams,Emily Dauria,Sarah Vélez,Joseline Delgadillo,Jamie Salas

doi:10.2196/25405

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents with juvenile legal system contact face numerous barriers to participation in behavioral health intervention research, including housing disruption, legal privacy concerns, and systems mistrust. Technology, such as social media, may be a novel and developmentally appropriate adolescent research study engagement and retention tool.ObjectiveWe examined data on social media information collected for study retention purposes from adolescents participating in a substance use intervention trial.MethodsData were collected as part of a randomized controlled trial determining efficacy of a group-based substance use intervention for girls and young women (12-24 years) with substance use histories referred from legal and school systems in the United States. Baseline demographic and social media information was analyzed from the subset of 114 adolescent girls (mean age 15.7 years; range 13-18 years), of whom 31.6% (36/114) were legally involved, 87.7% (100/114) belonged to minoritized racial/ethnic groups, and 32.5% (37/114) received public assistance.ResultsMost girls (74/114, 64.9%) provided at least one social media account (Instagram, 95% [70/74]; Facebook, 27% [20/74]; and Twitter, 11% [8/74]) during study enrollment. Legally involved girls were significantly less likely to provide social media information than school-referred girls (44% [16/36] versus 74% [58/78]; χ21 [N=114]=9.68, P=.002).ConclusionsObtaining social media information for study retention purposes from adolescent girls with lifetime substance use appears possible; however, particular subgroups (ie, legally involved girls) may be less likely to provide accounts. Factors shaping legally involved girls’ willingness to provide social media information, including mistrust and privacy concerns, and the impact of researcher’s access to social media information on study retention are critical directions for future research.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02293057; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02293057

Highlights

Large, representative samples in substance use intervention research are essential to best inform substance use treatment delivery policy and practices with adolescents with juvenile legal system contact and across the behavioral health cascade of care [1]
Social media may be especially useful for substance use intervention trials with legally involved adolescents, for whom researchers may face study recruitment and retention obstacles, such as disproportionate housing disruption that precludes consistent in-person contact [3,11] and high rates of household poverty that can result in frequent cellphone service disruption [12]
As part of a larger substance use intervention trial with adolescent girls, we examined data on social media account information provided to research staff for retention efforts

Summary

Introduction

Representative samples in substance use intervention research are essential to best inform substance use treatment delivery policy and practices with adolescents with juvenile legal system contact ( referred to as “legally involved adolescents”) and across the behavioral health cascade of care [1]. Social media may be especially useful for substance use intervention trials with legally involved adolescents, for whom researchers may face study recruitment and retention obstacles, such as disproportionate housing disruption that precludes consistent in-person contact [3,11] and high rates of household poverty that can result in frequent cellphone service disruption [12]. Adolescents with juvenile legal system contact face numerous barriers to participation in behavioral health intervention research, including housing disruption, legal privacy concerns, and systems mistrust. Technology, such as social media, may be a novel and developmentally appropriate adolescent research study engagement and retention tool

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Conclusion