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Effects of Adolescent Universal Substance Misuse Preventive Interventions on Young Adult Depression Symptoms: Mediational Modeling

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Abstract

Depression symptoms are associated with impairments in functioning and have substantial health and economic consequences. Universal substance misuse prevention programs have shown effects on non-targeted mental health-related symptoms, but long-term effects are understudied. This cluster randomized controlled trial examined effects of both the LifeSkills Training (LST) and Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10–14 (SFP 10–14) interventions, delivered during seventh grade, on age 22 young adult depression symptoms. The study was conducted in US rural Midwestern communities with a randomly-selected sample from a larger study (N = 670). Experimental conditions were LST+SFP 10–14, LST-only, and a control condition. Effects on age 22 depression symptoms were hypothesized as mediated through effects on age 21 relationship problems and illicit use of substances. Structural equation modeling with manifest and latent variables was conducted to test hypotheses; the intervention conditions were combined and compared with the control condition because analyses indicated a comparable pattern of effects between intervention conditions. Significant indirect intervention effects were found on age 22 depression symptoms via effects on the mediating variables (indirect effect: β = −0.06, 95 % CI [−0.10, −0.01], p = 0.011). Effect sizes for the young adult variables were between d = 0.17 and 0.29, which can be considered small, but nontrivial, especially in the context of public health benefits. Results support scaled-up implementation of school-based and family-focused universal substance misuse preventive interventions.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, grant DA 010815, a longitudinal study known as the Capable Families and Youth study. The authors wish to thank the individuals and communities that participated in the study and the many staff members and associates who collected the data and assisted with data management and analyses.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute, Iowa State University, 2625 N. Loop Drive, Suite 2400, Ames, IA, 50010, USA

    Linda Trudeau, Richard Spoth, G. Kevin Randall, Cleve Redmond & Lisa Schainker

  2. Boys Town National Research Institute for Child and Family Studies, 14100 Crawford Street, Boys Town, NE, 68010, USA

    W. Alex Mason

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  1. Linda Trudeau
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Correspondence to Linda Trudeau.

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Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., Mason, W.A. et al. Effects of Adolescent Universal Substance Misuse Preventive Interventions on Young Adult Depression Symptoms: Mediational Modeling. J Abnorm Child Psychol 44, 257–268 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-015-9995-9

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