Clinic tools to help families prevent teen substance use
Official title: Clinical Decision Supports to Prevent Teen Substance Use in Pediatric Primary Care
Funded at Yale University · NIH-11362049 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will build clinic-based prompts and referral supports to help pediatric teams link pre-teens and their families with family-focused programs that lower the risk of teen substance use.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project start | May 15, 2025 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $527,151 |
| NIH project number | 5R61DA062103-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11362049 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are pre-adolescents (and their caregivers) receiving care at participating federally qualified health centers, especially families of 9–12 year olds seen in pediatric primary care.
✕Less likely to help
People not seen at participating clinics, older adolescents already in substance-use treatment, or adults without caregiving responsibilities are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
From your perspective as a parent or caregiver, the team will work with families, pediatric clinicians, and health center leaders to design easy-to-use clinic prompts and referral links that identify pre-adolescents who could benefit from prevention programs. The first phase focuses on co-designing these decision supports with community partners at federally qualified health centers. The next phase pilots the tools in primary care visits to see whether more families are connected to evidence-based family programs that teach protective parenting skills. The study tracks how often the prompts are used, how many families follow through, and what barriers or supports matter most.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, more families could access preventive parenting programs that reduce their child's risk of later substance use.
How similar studies have gone: Family-focused prevention programs have previously reduced adolescent substance use, but using clinic-based decision supports to link families into these programs is a relatively new, pilot-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Yale University
New Haven, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Camenga, Deepa R — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Camenga, Deepa R
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Connecting Primary Care to SUD Treatment with Telehealth Collaborative Care
A Mayo Clinic study tests a telehealth-based collaborative care platform to help primary care clinics identify and treat substance use disorders in rural adults.
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Telehealth help connecting primary care to substance use treatment
This project uses a telehealth collaborative care app to help rural primary care patients get faster, coordinated treatment for substance use problems.
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Improving Access to App-Based Treatments for Substance Use in Primary Care
This project helps more people with substance use disorders in primary care get access to helpful digital treatments, especially those who face challenges in getting care.
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Improving care transitions for hospitalized patients with substance use disorders
This study is all about helping people with substance use disorders smoothly move from the hospital to their regular doctor, making sure they get the ongoing care they need after leaving the hospital.
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Improving access to substance use disorder treatment through telehealth in primary care.
This study is looking to make it easier for people in rural areas to get help for substance use issues by using a new telehealth platform that connects them with care right from their primary care doctors.
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Improving care for unhealthy substance use in primary care settings
This study is all about improving care for people dealing with unhealthy substance use by working together with doctors and those who have faced these challenges to create a supportive program that looks at the whole person—mind, body, and social life—so it can be tested in real-life doctor’s offices.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.