Supporting Statement

Underage Drinking Prevention’s “Talk. They Hear You.” Campaign Media Testing

Parent Focus Groups

A. Product Activity to be Assessed

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, is requesting OMB approval for one new focus group tool consisting of the following:

• Focus Group Protocol (Attachment A)

• FGD Recruitment and Screening (Attachment B)

• Release and Consent Form (Attachment C)

• FGD Facilitator Guide (Attachment D)

In 2013, SAMHSA launched the “Talk. They Hear You.” Campaign designed to help parents talk to children ages 9–15 about the consequences of underage drinking and introduce skills to help them avoid situations that result in drinking. This is a national campaign with an ongoing rollout period.

The “Talk. They Hear You.” materials consist of public service announcements, infographics, and a mobile application. These materials show parents using everyday opportunities to talk with their children about alcohol, and reinforce the important of starting the conversation about alcohol at an early age. They were created and provided to partners to display and distribute to parents and community members, and these channels, in turn, generated feedback on campaign successes such as social media and blog posts, newsletter articles, and direct distribution of campaign materials.

The “Talk. They Hear You.” public service announcements include print, radio, and video versions, with many materials available in both English and Spanish. Since launching in 2013, these public service announcements have been distributed to 1900 broadcast TV stations, 1000 cable TV stations, 3500 radio outlets, 300 print outlets, and 235 community-based outlets in the Washington, D.C. area. They have also earned more than 3.8 billion impressions as of June 17, 2015.

The “Talk. They Hear You.” infographics educated parents and the media on the facts about underage drinking in a visually compelling way. The infographics earned 561 likes, 1,238 shares, 34 favorites and 122 retweets via SAMHSA’s and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Facebook pages and Twitter profiles.

The “Talk. They Hear You.” mobile application features an interactive simulation that uses avatars to help parents practice bringing up the topic of alcohol, learn the questions to ask, and get ideas for keeping the conversation going. The application has a growing total of 2000+ downloads.

B. Brief Statement of Objectives

The overall objective of the focus group is to identify key elements and phrases that parents will recognize as being part of the “Talk. They Hear You.” Campaign in order to describe parent awareness of the campaign, retention of campaign messages, and changes in behavior as a result of seeing the materials. Based on the ongoing rollout of the Campaign, it is anticipated that by 2017 the target population will have had sufficient exposure to begin measuring the campaign’s impact on parent behavior in a national sample of parents.

C. Overview of Methods to Collect Information

Data Collection Method

SAMHSA is seeking to conduct the focus groups in six geographic locations that represent areas where rollout of the campaign has been more intensive. The different locations also ensure participants represent a wide range of populations from diverse socio-economic, cultural, educational, and demographical backgrounds. This diversity in participants’ backgrounds yields a comprehensive set of opinions, experiences, and feedback of the “Talk. They Hear You.” campaign materials and products.

The six proposed focus groups in six different geographic locations are: Atlanta (GA), Los Angeles (CA), Manhasset (NY), Oklahoma City (OK), Phoenix (AZ), and Washington, D.C. Each focus group will be conducted in English, and will be 90 minutes long. The time breakdown for each focus group is the following:

• 5 minutes to pre-screen potential participants

• 90 minutes to read and sign consent forms and participate in introduction, guidelines, and group discussion

The six focus groups will be supported by partner organizations that will help with the participants’ screening and recruitment processes as well as provide facilities to conduct the sessions. The potential partner organizations include:

• Easthampton Healthy Youth Coalition;

• Manhasset Community Coalition Against Substance Abuse, Inc.;

• Friday Night Live, includes Tulare County Office of Education, California for Youth Development and Health Promotion, Lifeplan Institute, California Mentoring Partnership, and CA Mentor Foundation;

• The Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth, and Families;

• District of Columbia School Nurses Association;

• Georgia Association of School Nurses;

• MADD Maryland;

• School Nurses Organization of Arizona.

SAMHSA will provide a recruitment and screening script for partners to use in recruiting the focus group participants. This reduces the burden on the partners and ensures the individuals participating in each group will meet the needs of the study. SAMHSA will also provide guidance on timing and set up for the groups and work with the partners to meet or adjust the logistical requirements as needed.

Identifying respondents and providing incentives

SAMHSA is looking to have a total of seventy-two (72) potential participants that will be pre-screened prior to the focus groups (12 potential participants per focus group). Out of the 72 pre-screened potential participants, fifty-four (54) will be recruited and divided into six (6) groups of nine (9), and will participate in a 90-minute focus group session, as follows:

Session dates will be determined based on receipt of approval from OMB to proceed.

• One session will be conducted in Atlanta, GA, on TBD

• One session will be conducted in Los Angeles, LA, on TBD

• One session will be conducted in Manhasset, NY, on TBD

• One session will be conducted in Oklahoma City, OK, on TBD

• One session will be conducted in Phoenix, AZ, on TBD

• One session will be conducted in Washington, D.C., on TBD

• The participant recruitment will be based on the results of a screening questionnaire to be applied by: TBD

• Focus groups will be conducted preferably after work hours, based on potential participant’s availability.

• At the beginning of each session, participants will complete a release/consent form of use of the information provided.

• To gain participants and reduce recruiting time and cost, the recruiting firms will offer participants a $50 gift card.

Frequency of Data Collection

SAMHSA is seeking to conduct the proposed six focus groups only one time. Each focus group will be 90 minutes long and each respondent will be asked to provide feedback as part of the overall conversation. The moderator will ensure all participants have an equal amount of time to participate.

Methods for Identifying Duplication

The information needed is specific to this program’s social marketing campaign and is not collected anywhere else.

D. Annualized Response Burden Estimate

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Responses per respondent	Total Number of Responses	Hours per Response	Total hour burden	Wage per hour	Total hour cost
Individuals (Screening call to participate)	180	1	180	.05	9	0
Individuals (Focus Group participation)	54	1	54	1.5	81	$35.00	$2835.00
Totals	180		234		90		$2835.00

The estimated annualize cost to respondents for the proposed data collection activities is $2,835.00. For the purposes of estimating annual cost, it is assumed that the participants will participate once. The average burden was estimated based on independent review of the focus groups by the contractor and Federal staff.

Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Government

The estimate annualized cost to the government for the proposed data collection activities is $26,000.

E. Methods used to develop the questions

Questions similar to those in the moderator’s guide were used to initially test effectiveness of the campaign materials.

F. Consultants within SAMHSA and outside the Agency

The common measures here for OMB approval are the result of lengthy consultation and discussion among SAMHSA personnel, and contract representatives. The final selection of these measures was made by SAMHSA senior officials.

Project Officer

Robert Vincent, Public Health Advisor, SAMHSA

(240) 276-1582

Contractor/Project Director: Elaine Rahbar, Synergy Enterprises, Inc. (240) 485-1700

List of Attachments:

Attachment A: Focus Group Protocol

Attachment B: FGD Recruitment and Screening

Attachment C: Release and Consent Form

Attachment D: FGD Facilitator Guide

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