LaunchPad: Supporting Healthy Decisions and Preventing Drug Use After High School

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

• Ages 15 to 21 years
• All sexes
• Healthy volunteers accepted
• Child, Adult

Trial locations and contacts

No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

About this study

Official title: Preventing Drug Use Onset and Progression Toward Addiction During a Critical Transition Period: Optimizing an Online Intervention for High School Seniors

Conditions

Substance-related Disorders, Alcohol-Related Disorders, Tobacco Use Disorder, Marijuana Use

Being tested

Introduction, Norms re: Protective Behavior Strategies (PBS), Life Skills, Norms re: Bystander Intervention Strategies, Making Friends

Keywords

Adolescence, Adolescent and Young Adult, Alcohol, Behavior, Decision Making, Development, Expectancy, High School Student, Intervention, Marijuana, Schools, Substance Use Prevention, Transition out of high school, Multi-phase Optimization Strategy, Normative Education

Medical subject headings

Substance-Related Disorders, Alcohol-Related Disorders, Tobacco Use Disorder, Marijuana Use, Behavior, Marijuana Abuse

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

• IntroductionBehavioural

  Discusses choices and challenges students face as they transition out of high school to promote participant buy-in. Explains the consequences of SU, focusing on how these consequences can interfere with their life plans.

• Norms re: Protective Behavior Strategies (PBS)Behavioural

  Provides messages from young adults that reveal positive attitudes (i.e., high injunctive norms) about using protective strategies to limit exposure to risky situations and behaviors. Messages will also emphasize low approval toward negative consequences of SU to motivate the need for PBS use.

• Life SkillsBehavioural

  Teaches social and decision-making skills such as SU refusal skills and strategies for coping with stress and anxiety.

• Norms re: Bystander Intervention StrategiesBehavioural

  Provides normative feedback about intervening on behalf of peers and teaches strategies to intervene on behalf of peers.

• Making FriendsBehavioural

  Teaches strategies to make friends without SU.

• Norms about Substance UseBehavioural

  Corrects misperceptions about prevalence of SU among young adults and young adults' approval of SU.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

1. Substance Use Injunctive Norms

   To capture students' perceived approval of substance use among their peers, they will indicate how much typical same-sex college students and typical same-sex young adults not in college approve of: Drinking daily; Having 4-5 drinks nearly every day; Having 5 or more drinks once or twice each weekend; Trying marijuana once or twice; Using marijuana occasionally; Using marijuana regularly; Smoking one or packs of cigarettes a day; Using e-cigarettes/vaping. Response options will be 1=strongly disapprove to 7=strongly approve. Responses will be averaged across reference groups but each substance will be analyzed separately.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest

2. Substance Use Descriptive Norms

   To capture students' perceived frequency of substance use among their peers, students will indicate what percentage of typical same-sex college students and typical same sex young adults not in college have done the following in the past 30 days: Drank alcohol, been drunk, used marijuana, smoked cigarettes, used e-cigarettes / vaped. Students will also indicate what percentage of each group they think have had 5 or more drinks in the past 2 weeks. The questions will allow open ended responses ranging from 0-100. Responses will be averaged across reference groups but each substance will be analyzed separately.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

3. Social self-efficacy

   Students will report how confident they are that they could do things to meet new people in real situations. For example ("Start a conversation with someone you don't know or just met"; "Get to know new people without using alcohol or other drugs"). Response options will be 1 = Not at all confident to 4 = Completely confident. Responses will be averaged across items.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

4. Beliefs about social belonging without substance use

   Students will indicate how much they agree with statements about the importance of substance use for young adults to make friends. Response options will range from 1 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree. Responses will be averaged across items.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

5. Substance use refusal self efficacy

   Students will indicate how confident they are that they could resist drinking or using drugs in different situations. There are three subscales: For emotional relief (e.g., When I feel upset), opportunistic situations (e.g., when I am at a party), and in situations where there is social facilitation (e.g., when I want to feel more accepted by my friends). Response options will range from 1 = I am very sure I could NOT resist drinking or using drugs to 6 = I am very sure I could resist drinking or using drugs. Responses will be averaged across items to create a single measure.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

6. Injunctive norms about Protective Behavioral Strategies

   Students will report "how you think young adults feel if their friends did the following." Item content will be adapted from measures of alcohol, marijuana, and smoking / vaping harm prevention / protective behavioral strategies (e.g., "Refused to ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol"; "Refused to play a drinking game even when everyone else is playing"). Response options will be 1=strongly disapprove to 6=strongly approve. Responses will be averaged across items.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

7. Injunctive norms about consequences of substance use

   Students will report "how you think young adults feel if their friends did the following." Item content will be adapted from measures of alcohol, marijuana, and smoking / vaping consequences (e.g., "Said or did embarrassing things while drinking or using marijuana"; "Got into an argument or fight with someone after they had been drinking or using marijuana"). Response options will be 1=strongly disapprove to 6=strongly approve. Responses will be averaged across items.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

8. Attitudes about using Protective Behavioral Strategies

   Students will identify how they feel about using protective behavioral strategies. Response options will be on a 5 point scale with anchors such as 1 = harmful vs 5 = beneficial and 1 = not worth it and 5 = worth it. Responses will be averaged across items.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

9. Intentions to use stress management skills

   Students will complete a measure adapted from several subscales from the Brief COPE to indicate how often they intend to use different strategies to cope with stress over the next 3 months. The substance use items are: "Use alcohol to feel better", "Use marijuana (weed) to relax or feel better" and "Use nicotine pouches to relax". Response options will range from 1 = Never to 4 = Often. Responses will be averaged across items within the same subscale.

   Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

10. Self efficacy to use different stress management skills

    Students will complete a measure adapted from several subscales from the Brief COPE to indicate how confident they are that they could use different adaptive coping strategies. For example, "Break a big problem into smaller, manageable steps" and "Refrain from using alcohol, marijuana, nicotine (smoking, vapes, pouches) or other substances." Response options will range from 1 = Not at all confident" to 4 = Completely confident. Responses will be averaged across items.

    Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

11. Injunctive norms about Bystander Intervention

    To capture students' norms around the social acceptability of bystander intervention, they will indicate how they think most young adults would feel about their friends intervening in different ways, such as "Suggested their friends create a plan to stay safe before drinking or using drugs" and "Call for emergency help if someone is passed out, even if that person could get in trouble". Response options will range from 1 = Strongly disapprove to 6 = Strongly approve. Responses will be averaged across items.

    Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

12. Attitudes about Bystander Intervention

    Students will indicate how much they agree with several statements about bystander intervention: "It's my responsibility to look out for my friends when alcohol or drugs are involved" and "It's important for me to say or do something if a friend's drinking or drug use seems risky, even if it feels awkward". Response options will range from 1 = Strongly disagree to 6 = Strongly agree. Responses will be averaged across items.

    Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

13. Self efficacy to intervene

    Students will rate how confident they are that they could engage in different bystander behaviors, such as "Ask a peer who seems very drunk or high if they are okay, even if you don't know them well" and "Tell a friend you are worried about how much they had been drinking or using drugs."

    Measured: This measure will be completed at the pretest and immediate posttest.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

1. First posted18 Jun 2026
2. Study start1 Sep 2026 (estimated)
3. Primary completionJul 2027 (estimated)
4. Study completion30 Apr 2029 (estimated)

Resources

• Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
• Other trials for Substance-related DisordersStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
• What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.