Examining Expectancy Challenges to Prevent Nonmedical Prescription Stimulant Use
| Status: | Recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Psychiatric |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Psychiatry / Psychology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 18 - 25 |
| Updated: | 10/12/2018 |
| Start Date: | September 4, 2018 |
| End Date: | August 2020 |
| Contact: | Alison Looby, PhD |
| Email: | alooby@uwyo.edu |
| Phone: | 3073142314 |
Nonmedical prescription stimulant use (NPS) is commonly reported among college students for
cognitive enhancement purposes, though it is associated with numerous negative psychological
and physical consequences. Despite increasingly high prevalence rates and widespread
acknowledgement of the need for efficacious interventions, little is known regarding how to
prevent or treat this behavior. An intervention that targets cognitive enhancement motives
and expectancy effects related to NPS may be particularly effective in light of recent
research purporting limited evidence for meaningful NPS-related cognitive improvements among
individuals without legitimate attention deficits. The primary objective of this proposal is
to examine the efficacy of an intervention that successfully prevents NPS among college
students by modifying expectations for NPS-related effects, while at the same time providing
alternative means of enhancing cognition and arousal. Participants will be 126
stimulant-naïve college students who report a combination of risk factors for NPS. They will
be randomized to one of three treatment conditions: a placebo-based expectancy challenge
intervention that solely aims to modify expectancies related to NPS, a caffeine-based
expectancy challenge intervention that includes expectancy modification combined with a safer
alternative for cognitive enhancement, or a control group. Multilevel mixed modeling and
survival analyses will be used to 1) examine changes in NPS-related expectancy effects across
a 6-month follow-up period, and 2) assess incidence of NPS over the follow-up period,
respectively, across the three groups. It is hypothesized that both expectancy challenge
interventions will successfully modify expectancies compared to the control group and that
they will be maintained over the follow-up period. It is also expected that the
caffeine-based intervention will most successfully prevent NPS through a combination of
expectancy modification and encouraging safe use of caffeine rather than prescription
stimulants to achieve desired outcomes. Mediational analyses will also be employed to assess
whether changes in expectancy effects via the interventions are responsible for differences
in initiation rates between groups. The results of this project will facilitate the
development of larger-scale prevention efforts to target the high rate of NPS on college
campuses.
cognitive enhancement purposes, though it is associated with numerous negative psychological
and physical consequences. Despite increasingly high prevalence rates and widespread
acknowledgement of the need for efficacious interventions, little is known regarding how to
prevent or treat this behavior. An intervention that targets cognitive enhancement motives
and expectancy effects related to NPS may be particularly effective in light of recent
research purporting limited evidence for meaningful NPS-related cognitive improvements among
individuals without legitimate attention deficits. The primary objective of this proposal is
to examine the efficacy of an intervention that successfully prevents NPS among college
students by modifying expectations for NPS-related effects, while at the same time providing
alternative means of enhancing cognition and arousal. Participants will be 126
stimulant-naïve college students who report a combination of risk factors for NPS. They will
be randomized to one of three treatment conditions: a placebo-based expectancy challenge
intervention that solely aims to modify expectancies related to NPS, a caffeine-based
expectancy challenge intervention that includes expectancy modification combined with a safer
alternative for cognitive enhancement, or a control group. Multilevel mixed modeling and
survival analyses will be used to 1) examine changes in NPS-related expectancy effects across
a 6-month follow-up period, and 2) assess incidence of NPS over the follow-up period,
respectively, across the three groups. It is hypothesized that both expectancy challenge
interventions will successfully modify expectancies compared to the control group and that
they will be maintained over the follow-up period. It is also expected that the
caffeine-based intervention will most successfully prevent NPS through a combination of
expectancy modification and encouraging safe use of caffeine rather than prescription
stimulants to achieve desired outcomes. Mediational analyses will also be employed to assess
whether changes in expectancy effects via the interventions are responsible for differences
in initiation rates between groups. The results of this project will facilitate the
development of larger-scale prevention efforts to target the high rate of NPS on college
campuses.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Native English speakers
- Current undergraduate enrollment
- Prescription stimulant naive
- At-risk for nonmedical prescription stimulant use, defined by endorsement of 2+ risk
factors: male sex, Greek involvement, GPA < 3.5, past two-week binge drinking,
past-month marijuana, any 6-month intention to engage in nonmedical prescription
stimulant use, any decrements in refusal self-efficacy for prescription stimulants
- Willingness to ingest Adderall in the laboratory
- Past-month caffeine use
Exclusion Criteria:
- Lifetime history of use of any prescription stimulant
- Current psychiatric diagnosis
- Current psychiatric medication use
- Smoking > 5 cigarettes daily or daily use of any other nicotine product
- History of cardiac problems, diabetes, or regular hypoglycemia
- Current pregnancy or breastfeeding
- History of adverse reactions to caffeine
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