Why MINDSET?

Many teens in cities drink alcohol, which can lead to serious health problems. Doctors often use a method called Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to help. It includes asking questions, giving short advice, and sending teens to treatment if needed. But in real life, this doesn’t always work well—especially the part where teens are sent to treatment. Many don’t go, even if they really need help. So, we need better ways to support teens and make these programs easier to use.

28%

of students have tried alcohol by eighth grade

&

68%

have tried alcohol by twelfth grade

Our Proposal

Our study will introduce mindfulness training, which teaches teens to stay calm and notice their thoughts and feelings. This can be done through a free app. In this study, we’ll compare two groups: one will participate in motivational interviewing with their doctor, and the other will get the same plus the mindfulness app. We’ll see which group does better over a year. The study will take place in clinics around Maryland, where many teens from different backgrounds get care.

Our Research Aims

Aim 1: Comparative Effectiveness

We are interested in understanding the difference in effectiveness between the treatment groups. This will allow us to offer the most effective treatment option for patients in the future.

Aim 2: Implementation

Recognizing the views, experiences, and preferences of communities and patients about Brief Alcohol Interventions (BAI) is very important for our study. We want to understand what makes it easier or harder to provide these interventions to different groups of patients.

Aim 3: Difference in treatment effects

We are interested in understanding how a participant’s starting condition affects how well they respond to the interventions we are studying. These factors include medical history, family background, household income, race, gender, and more.

Meet the Team

  • Christopher Hammond MD, PhD

    Principal Investigator

  • Hoover Adger, MD, MPH, MBA

    Principal Investigator

  • Kathryn Van Eck, PhD

    Co-Investigator

  • Gabrielle Newton, MPH

    Senior Research Coordinator

  • Stephanie Leveron, B.A. Public Health

    Research Assistant

  • Halima Thomas, B.A. Public Health

    Research Assistant