On-line subject recruitment presentation

I. ON-LINE SUBJECT RECRUITMENT PRESENTATION

Evaluation of Young Marines Drug Education Program

(This is aimed at parents; it will be turned into a PowerPoint slideshow with voice over)

Hello and welcome to this brief presentation about a research study on the effectiveness of youth drug abuse prevention activities in the Young Marines organization. This presentation is intended for the parents of a Young Marine, whether they are a current, active Young Marine or a newly enrolled Young Marine recruit who has not yet begun their orientation. You are being asked to allow your child to participate in a research study. Before you give your permission for your child to participate, it is important that you understand the following information and ask as many questions as necessary to be sure you understand what your child will be asked to do.

As you may know, while tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use have declined in recent years among teens, rates are still high and there is a need for effective substance abuse prevention programs to guide the development of young people into healthy, productive adults.

This study will assess the helpfulness of the Young Marines program to reduce drug use and to promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle among its youth participants. The study will assess the Program’s efforts in changing drug behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge, as well as factors such as self-esteem and personal responsibility. Youth subjects in this study will complete a survey about their drug use, attitudes, and knowledge. Some of these youth subjects will also complete a follow-up survey about three months later. From this study, the researchers will be able to describe how the Program is affecting drug behaviors and related measures and make recommendations about the Program to ultimately better the Marine Corps sponsored services for youth drug education.

Now, I am going to go over the forms and information contained in the study information packet, including information on the free gift to Young Marines just for turning in a signed parent permission form, whether or not you allow your child to participate.

The study packet, if you do not already have one, can be obtained by: (1) requesting the study information packet from your child’s Young Marine unit leader at a unit meeting (some unit leaders will have a limited supply of the packets); or (2) requesting that a study information packet be mailed to you by sending an email to [email protected].

The most important form in the packet is the “parent permission/voluntary consent to participate in a research study.”

* Why is this study being done?

This research is being conducted to better understand educational programs that might be effective in reducing alcohol and drug use among youth. This research is being conducted by researchers from the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) in San Diego, California, and it is being conducted at the request of Marine Corps Community Services. About 1,000 young people will be recruited from several Young Marine units throughout the US to take part in this study. To participate in this study, your child must be an active participant in the Young Marines, or a new Young Marine enrollee waiting to begin the orientation class.

* What will my child’s participation involve?

This project will assess the effectiveness of the Young Marines program in bringing about changes in attitudes and behavior related to drug use. If you agree to allow your child to participate:

• Your child will be asked to complete a survey either in-person at a Young Marines meeting, or on a secure Internet website.

• Your child may be asked to complete a second survey about 3 months after the first survey. This survey needs to be completed on a secure Internet website.

The maximum amount of time your child will be involved with the study is a total of 1½ hours (45 minutes for the first survey and if asked to participate in the second survey, another 45 minutes) over a 3 to 4 month period. Participation in the in-person surveys will take place during regularly scheduled Young Marine unit meetings. If your child chooses to complete the surveys on a secure Internet website, this will occur during the child’s own time using a computer resource that your child has access to.

* What are the risks involved in this study?

You or your child may feel some anxiety as to the privacy and security of his or her information in confidentiality of completing drug and alcohol surveys, either on paper or on the Internet. The survey will ask about your child’s use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other illicit drugs, drug-related knowledge, perceived pressures to use drugs, disapproval of drug use and other similar questions. For example, we ask questions like, “On how many occasions (if any) have you used ecstasy during the last 30 days?” and “During the past 30 days, about how many cigarettes have you smoked per day?” Another example question on drug behavior is “On how many occasions (if any) have you been drunk or very high from drinking alcoholic beverages?” Your child’s responses will be protected by the using a unique code, rather than your name. This will prevent your responses from being able to be linked to you as an individual. Your child’s confidentiality will be protected by the use of a unique code, rather than personal name. Your child will create his/her own unique code for their survey based on prompts such as what is your child’s middle initial, child’s birth month, whether or not his/her birth year is an even numbered year, child’s sex, and first letter of his/her mother’s first name. Surveys completed using the Internet option are done using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) data transmission lines. SSL encrypts, or scrambles, all the survey data sent over the Internet. The data will only be understandable when it reaches the investigator’s database. If your child begins to feel uncomfortable at any point in the study, he/she may refuse to answer any question that disturbs him/her, or he/she may discontinue participation in the study, either temporarily or permanently. The survey data (both paper and internet surveys) will not be given to parents, Young Marine unit leaders or anyone else besides the NHRC investigators. The results of this study may be published in technical reports or articles, but only group information will be presented and no individual’s identity can be revealed.

* What happens if my child gets upset or has psychological discomfort due to this study?

If your child is upset or has psychological discomfort due to the sensitive subject matter of this survey on drug use, you may contact the study psychologist, Dr. Heidi Kraft at (619) 553-9142 or [email protected]. Dr. Kraft is a clinical psychologist and can provide guidance and information regarding any discomforts caused by this study. She may also assist you with locating appropriate counseling services in your area, if further services are needed. No formal compensation is available to you or your child. By signing this consent form, you will not be giving up any legal rights.

* What are the benefits of the study?

Your child is not expected to receive direct benefit from taking part in this study. However, this study could benefit children and society in general by contributing to a better understanding of how effective youth development programs are in decreasing drug use and related factors.

* What information will be collected from my child and how will it be kept private and secure?

will it be kept confidential?

Your child will be asked to fill out a survey of their drug use, knowledge, and attitudes. Your child’s answers to these questions will be used to study the effectiveness of the Young Marines drug education efforts. This information will be used only by NHRC study personnel and will be maintained until all analyses are completed. All information obtained about your child on the survey will be considered privileged and held in confidence. His/her responses All information obtained about your child on the survey will be considered privileged and held in confidence. His/her confidentiality on surveys will be protected by the use of unique participant codes rather than personal names (described previously). Suzanne Hurtado is responsible for storing your child’s information during the study. This information will be protected keeping all paper copies of your child’s information in a locked file in Building 328 at the Naval Health Research Center. Electronic data will be stored in password-protected files on secure computer servers at NHRC. Access to all data will be limited to staff involved in this study. The information your child discloses will not be used by or released to another institution.

The results of this study may be published in Department of Defense technical reports, scientific journals, or presented at scientific meetings; however, no publication or presentation about the research study described above will reveal your child’s identity. Lastly, individuals from official government agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy, may inspect your child’s research records to ensure that the rights and safety of all research participants are protected.

* Does my child have to participate?

No, your child does not have to participate. Participation in this study is completely voluntary. Your decision about whether to allow your child to participate will not prejudice his/her future relations with the Young Marines program or the U.S. Marine Corps. If you decide to allow your child to participate, you are free to withdraw your consent and discontinue his/her participation at any time without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

* If you have questions about this study

If you have questions about the research, you may contact Suzanne Hurtado, at (619) 553-7806 or [email protected].

If you have questions about your child’s health and safety in this study, you may contact Dr. Heidi Kraft, a clinical psychologist, at (619) 553-9142 or [email protected].

If you have questions regarding your child’s rights as a human subject and participant in this study, you may contact Christopher Blood at (619) 553-8386 or [email protected]. He is the Chairman of the Naval Health Research Center Institutional Review Board, a group of people who review the research to protect your rights and the rights of your child.

* Thank you gift

If you or your child returns a signed parent permission form whether or not you participate or allow your child to participate in the study, you or your child will be mailed a free movie rental gift card (a $4.50 value) from us.

Your signature on the “parent permission/voluntary consent to participate in a research study” form will indicate that you have read the information in the form and have had a chance to ask any questions you have about the study and its procedures and risks.

Also contained in study information packet is an extra copy of the parent permission form (marked “parent copy”) for you to keep for your records and a pre-paid envelope to return the signed form.

What we would like you to do is to:

1. If you do not yet have a study information packet, please request one from your Unit Leader, or request that one be sent to you by emailing [email protected].)

2. If you decide to allow your child to participate, sign the parent permission form and return it immediately by mailing it back to the researchers using the enclosed, prepaid envelope, or your child may turn it in to a special, marked box at your child’s next unit meeting.

3. Please be sure to write your email address on the parent permission form. This is necessary so that we may contact you to let you know when the on-line survey option will be available and to email you the access information. We also ask for your mailing address so that we can send you the free movie rental gift card when we receive your signed parent permission form.

We will be announcing soon when the survey will be given in-person at some unit’s regularly scheduled meetings and when the on-line survey option will be open for those who wish to take the survey on the internet.

Please remember to turn the parent permission form back in as soon as possible. Don’t miss out on this chance to be a part of a study to improve the Marine Corps sponsored services for youth drug education!

Thank you for your time.

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