Youth recovery outcomes at 6 and 9 months following participation in a mobile texting recovery support aftercare pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We examined youth recovery outcomes at 6- and 9-months post-participation in an aftercare pilot study called Educating and Supporting inQuisitive Youth in Recovery (ESQYIR) that aimed to investigate the utility of a 12-week mobile texting recovery support intervention.
METHODS: A total of 80 youth [Mage 20.4 (SD = 3.5)] were randomized to a mobile texting aftercare intervention or an aftercare-as-usual control group. Both groups received identical data collection protocols with psychosocial and behavioral assessments occurring at baseline, during the trial (months 1 and 2), at discharge from the trial (month 3), and 3-, 6-, and 9-month post-intervention follow-ups.
RESULTS: Mixed modeling showed that youth who participated in the mobile texting aftercare intervention were less likely to test positive for their primary drug compared to youth in the aftercare-as-usual condition during 6- and 9-months follow-ups (p < .01). Additionally, youth in the aftercare intervention reported significantly higher self-efficacy/confidence to abstain during recovery (p < .05) and were more likely to participate in recovery-related behaviors (self-help and goal-directed extracurricular activities; p < .05) than those in aftercare-as-usual at the 6- and 9-month follow-ups.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that delivering a structured, behavioral-based wellness aftercare intervention using mobile texting can be an effective for sustaining recovery outcomes in youth over time compared to youth who receive aftercare-as-usual. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: This study shows that a mobile-texting aftercare intervention sustained effects at 6- and 9-months post-intervention for young people in substance use recovery. © American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes