Helping youth and families build self-regulation skills to prevent substance use after childhood adversity
Teaching Youth & Families Self-Regulation Skills to Disrupt the Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Preventing Substance Use in Adversity-Impacted Youth
This project teaches coping and self-control skills to young people and their families who experienced childhood adversity to help prevent early alcohol and drug use.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California-Irvine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Irvine, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11374957 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your family would learn practical skills to manage thoughts, emotions, and behavior using strategies called Shift and Persist. The project enrolls adolescents with high exposure to childhood adversity and randomly assigns families to the skills program or a comparison group. Researchers will follow participants to track early alcohol and drug use and measure stress-related health signs like heart rate variability, sleep, weight, and blood pressure. The program focuses on building habits during early adolescence, when experimentation with substances often begins.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adolescents—especially those under age 14—with a history of multiple adverse childhood experiences (e.g., four or more ACEs) and their caregivers who can participate in the program at UC Irvine are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People without a history of significant childhood adversity or those who already have an established substance use disorder may be less likely to benefit from this prevention-focused program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this program could reduce the chance that adolescents with high childhood adversity start using alcohol or drugs and improve stress-related health measures.
How similar studies have performed: Previous family-based and self-regulation programs have shown promise for reducing early substance use and improving stress responses, but this specific approach for high-ACE youth is being tested in a randomized trial.
Where this research is happening
Irvine, United States
- University of California-Irvine — Irvine, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bounds, Dawn — University of California-Irvine
- Study coordinator: Bounds, Dawn
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 below.