Recruiting

WisePath for Teens

Sponsor:

Evidence-Based Practice Institute, Seattle, WA

Code:

NCT05897164

Conditions

Substance Use

Substance Abuse

Suicide

Adolescent

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 13+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

WisePath for Teens

Peer Support Services (PSS)

Control

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this study is to test the newly expanded WisePath for Teens (WPT) for substance use app, a direct-to-consumer paired mobile phone app for iOS and Android platforms that supports parents/guardians in delivering evidence-based techniques to reduce youth substance abuse and co-occurring mental health problems. This project will expand WPT for use with a general population of teens with problematic substance use and their parents to reduce substance abuse, its harmful effects, opioid overdoses, and progression to substance use disorders, as well as other behavioral health problems that are exacerbated by substance abuse and/or interfere with substance abuse treatment.

Conditions

Substance Use

Substance Abuse

Suicide

Adolescent

Study ID

NCT05897164

Start date

Aug 18, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Apr 30, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov 30, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 13+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

Youth:

  • Resides in United States
  • 13-17 years of age
  • Fluent in English
  • Possesses and is the primary user of an Android or iPhone-based smartphone with a data plan that they use on a daily basis
  • Currently residing in the same household with the linked caregiver/legal guardian participant at least five days a week
  • Meets criteria for mild-moderate or severe SA (for any drug or alcohol) on the Screening to Brief Intervention (S2BI), indicated by answering that they have used any substance at least once per month within the past 90 days.
  • Possesses and is the primary user of an Android or iPhone-based smartphone with a data plan

Caregivers:

  • Resides in United States
  • 18 years or older
  • Fluent in English
  • Owns and is the primary user of an Android or iPhone-based smartphone with a data plan that they use on a daily basis
  • Able and willing to receive and send several (1-3 times/week) text messages from study staff during study participation
  • Is the primary caregiver of a youth aged 13-17 years who lives in the caregiver's home at least five days a week
  • Caregiver indicates a substance concern for the target youth, defined as either a+b OR c:

1. uses alcohol, marijuana, and/or another substance, AND
2. expresses that they are concerned (a score of 3 or higher) about that use on a 5-pt Likert scale (3 = concerned, 4 = very concerned, 5 = extremely concerned).

OR
3. The target youth participated in counseling or another form of treatment (e.g., medication assisted treatment) because of a concern about alcohol, marijuana, or other substance use.

EXCLUSION CRITERIA

Youth:
  • Participated in previous iKinnect or WisePath for Teens research in the past 2 years

Caregivers:

  • Participated in previous iKinnect or WisePath for Teens research in the past 2 years
  • Currently involved with the child protective service system due to a concern about child maltreatment (i.e., abuse or neglect).

Study Design

Enrollment

600 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: WPT

Youth and parents allocated to the WPT condition will use WPT, a newly developed app to support parents delivering (and for youth, receiving) evidence-based practices to reduce youth's substance abuse and other significant behavioral health problems that commonly co-occur with substance abuse, exacerbate substance abuse and/or interfere with their treatment.

experimental: WPT + PSS

Youth and parents allocated to the WPT + PSS condition will use WPT paired with a family peer support specialist.

active comparator: WILLOW

Caregivers and teens allocated to the control condition will each be provided with access to the study-developed webpage that has links to freely-available, online, high-quality resources related to teen substance use and general stress reduction, with all links tailored to each webpage's intended audience (i.e., caregivers will be given links to parent-facing resources and teens will be given links to teen-facing or teen-appropriate webpages and resources). Dyads will receive simple instructions on how to save the webpage to their phone's home screen (similar to an app icon) to make access easier and more like accessing an installed mobile app.

Interventions

WisePath for Teens

WPT is a paired mobile phone app for use on both Android and iOS operating systems by youth experiencing SA and their parents/guardians.

Peer Support Services (PSS)

PSS are provided by people with lived experience with histories of adolescent substance abuse and are now in recovery who are also certified as peer support specialists. A specialist will virtually (e.g., over the phone, screensharing) meet with families regularly to provide support and ensure that families are able to use iKinnect-SA and access the app's features.

Control

Website with icon on participant's phone with Android or iOS operating systems.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in Timeline Followback Method Assessment (TLFB) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Global Assessment of Individual Needs-Q3 (GAIN) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Achenbach (Child/Adult) Behavior Checklist [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Family Environment Scale (FES) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Parent-Adolescent Relationship Scale (PARS) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • Change in Parent Locus of Control (PLC) [ Time Frame: Baseline (Time 1), 1-4 weeks (Time 2), 5-8 weeks (Time 3), and 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]
  • App Satisfaction Survey [ Time Frame: 9-12 weeks (Time 4) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Samantha Daniels

206-455-7934clinicaltrials@ebpi.org

Angela Kelley Brimer, MS

206-455-7934clinicaltrials@ebpi.org

Locations

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Recruiting

Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21201

Principal Investigator:

Cindy Schaeffer, PhD

Evidence-Based Practice Institute

Recruiting

Seattle, Washington, United States, 98126

Contacts

Samantha Daniels

206-455-7934clinicaltrials@ebpi.org

Angela Kelley Brimer, MS

206-455-7934clinicaltrials@ebpi.org

Principal Investigator:

Linda Dimeff, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

Evidence-Based Practice Institute, Seattle, WA

Last update posted

Aug 20, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Evidence-Based Practice Institute, Seattle, WA on 2026-08-20.