Walton, M.A., Resko, S., Barry, K.L., Chermack, S.T., Zucker, R.A., Zimmerman, M.A., Booth, B.M., & Blow, F.C. (2014). A randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a brief cannabis universal prevention program among adolescents in primary care. Addiction.109, 786-797. PMCID: PMC3984620.
Seven primary care centers screened adolescents for cannabis use. Adolescents (age 12-18) who had never used cannabis were assigned to either a computerized brief intervention (CBI) or a therapist-delivered brief intervention (TBI) of equivalent length. Both interventions used motivational interviewing techniques to provide normative feedback and prevent cannabis use. At 12 months, adolescents in the CBI group used less cannabis and fewer other drugs than adolescents in the TBI group. Alcohol use and delinquency did not differ between the CBI and TBI groups. These study results suggest that a brief computerized intervention for adolescents may assist in preventing cannabis initiation more than a therapist-delivered brief intervention.