A community intervention to reduce alcohol consumption and drunkenness among adolescents – a quasi-experimental evaluation of the Öckerö method
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN51635778 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN51635778 |
- Submission date
- 29/03/2021
- Registration date
- 31/03/2021
- Last edited
- 23/04/2021
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Alcohol consumption among young people is a risk behavior linked to several potentially negative consequences. It is therefore important to further develop local alcohol prevention work. There is a great need to develop new methods and to conduct research into the methods that are already in use, despite a lack of sufficient support in the research.
The Öckerö method is an established alcohol prevention method that is used in around 25 municipalities in Sweden. The method has also inspired the work of several other municipalities. Despite the dissemination of the method and the fact that it is perceived as effective by local drug prevention workers, no independent research has to date been conducted concerning its effects.
The aim of this trial is to study the possible effects of the Öckerö method based on a number of different outcome measures – first and foremost alcohol consumption and parents’ attitudes to adolescent alcohol use.
Who can participate?
All school students in grade 7-9 (aged 13-15 years) in 17 secondary schools in eight municipalities in Skåne county, Sweden over the course of 2016-2019.
What does the study involve?
Participating municipalities are allocated to the intervention group (Öckerö Method) or the control group. The Öckerö Method is a community intervention that aims to change the social norms of adolescents with regards to alcohol consumption by providing information to parents, other adults, local associations and local media, with the intent of influencing their attitudes towards alcohol consumption by adolescents. The intervention consists of four components: (1) information at school parent meetings in grades 7, 8 and 9, (2) newsletters to parents and other adults, (3) information work directed at the local community, and (4) information via local media. The intervention is implemented by local prevention workers. It is followed up with self-report surveys that are conducted once each year with adolescents in secondary school.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The adolescents in the intervention group may benefit from reduced alcohol and other drug consumption if the method turns out to have positive effects. All the questions and scales used in the study have been used in previous research among adolescents without any problems being reported in connection with the data collection. It cannot be completely ruled out that some adolescents may find it uncomfortable to answer certain questions, but the researchers consider the risks of the study to be very limited. As extra security, they inform in the written information that the participating adolescents can turn to the school counselor if the questionnaire raises thoughts or negative feelings.
Where is the study run from?
Malmö University (Sweden)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
June 2015 to September 2019
Who is funding the study?
1. Public Health Agency of Sweden (Sweden)
2. County Administrative Board of Skåne (Sweden)
3. Systembolaget (Sweden)
Who is the main contact?
Prof. Björn Johnson
bjorn.johnson@mau.se
Contact information
Scientific
Malmö University
Department of Social Work
Malmö
20506
Sweden
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-1601-2706 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +46 (0)704383973 |
| bjorn.johnson@mau.se |
Scientific
Malmö University
Department of Criminology
Malmö
20506
Sweden
| Phone | +46 (0)722158709 |
|---|---|
| robert.svensson@mau.se |
Study information
| Study design | Quasi-experimental design using matched controls |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Quasi-experimental design using matched controls |
| Study setting(s) | Community |
| Study type | Prevention |
| Participant information sheet | Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | The Öckerö method for alcohol prevention - a quasi-experimental evaluation |
| Study objectives | The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Öckerö Method. The study focuses on two research questions: 1. Is it possible to identify the effects of the Öckerö Method on youths’ alcohol consumption and drunkenness? 2. Is it possible to identify the effects of the Öckerö Method on parental attitudes towards alcohol consumption and drunkenness, based on the youths’ perceptions? |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 04/05/2016, Regional Ethics Review Board in Lund (Regionala etikprövningsnämnden, Lunds Universitet, Box 133, 22100 Lund, Sweden; +46 (0)46 2224180; registrator@epn.lu.se), ref: 2016/88 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Alcohol use and drunkenness among adolescents aged 13-15 years |
| Intervention | The Öckerö Method is a community intervention that aims to change social norms of adolescents with regards to alcohol consumption, by providing information to parents, other adults, local associations and local media, with the intent of influencing their attitudes towards alcohol consumption by adolescents. The intervention consists of four components: 1. Information at school parent meetings in grades 7, 8 and 9 2. Newsletters to parents and other adults 3. Information work directed at the local community 4. Information via local media The intervention is implemented by local prevention workers. It is followed up by means of self-report surveys that are conducted once each year with adolescents in secondary school. The county of Skåne is selected as the evaluation area because adolescent alcohol consumption in the county is higher than in Sweden as a whole. Eight municipalities are selected following a pairwise matching procedure using several matching variables (e.g. average educational level within the municipality, and the proportion of municipal residents of non-Swedish background). A randomly selected municipality from each matched pair is then asked whether they would like to be an intervention municipality, and the remaining municipalities whether they would like to be control municipalities. A self-report survey is conducted throughout the project period (once per year, at the beginning of the autumn term) in the intervention and control municipalities. The same questionnaire is used in both the intervention and control group. The self-report survey is administered in the form of a web-based questionnaire that is completed under conditions of anonymity. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | Alcohol consumption (ever) and drunkenness (last year, last month) among adolescents, measured by self-report data using well-established survey questions at baseline (start of grade 7), at the start of grade 8, and at the start of grade 9 |
| Secondary outcome measures | Parental attitudes towards adolescent drinking as perceived by the adolescents, measured by two self-report items combined into a scale at baseline (start of grade 7), at the start of grade 8, and at the start of grade 9 |
| Overall study start date | 10/06/2015 |
| Completion date | 30/09/2019 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 13 Years |
| Upper age limit | 15 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | Number of answered questionnaires: 14000 (3500 each year) |
| Total final enrolment | 12486 |
| Key inclusion criteria | All school students in grade 7-9 (aged 13-15 years) in the participating municipalities |
| Key exclusion criteria | Not present in the school at the day of the survey procedure or no consent from parents (for adolescents aged below 15 years) |
| Date of first enrolment | 15/08/2016 |
| Date of final enrolment | 30/09/2019 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Sweden
Study participating centres
Ljungbyhed
26452
Sweden
Klippan
26434
Sweden
Bjuv
26740
Sweden
Billesholm
25771
Sweden
Ekeby
26775
Sweden
Skurup
27435
Sweden
Skurup
27434
Sweden
Simrishamn
27235
Sweden
Osby
28341
Sweden
Osby
28333
Sweden
Lönsboda
28302
Sweden
Knislinge
28331
Sweden
Broby
28941
Sweden
Hörby
24232
Sweden
Hörby
24233
Sweden
Höör
24271
Sweden
Tomelilla
27335
Sweden
Sponsor information
University/education
Malmö University
Malmö
20506
Sweden
| Phone | +46 (0)406657000 |
|---|---|
| registrator@mau.se | |
| Website | https://www.mah.se/english |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/05wp7an13 |
Funders
Funder type
Government
Government organisation / National government
- Alternative name(s)
- Public Health Agency of Sweden
- Location
- Sweden
No information available
Government organisation / Local government
- Location
- Sweden
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 01/05/2021 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Evaluation to be published and disseminated during 2021. No additional documents are available. The full survey questionnaire is available (in English or Swedish) from the main contact (Prof. Björn Johnson, bjorn.johnson@mau.se). |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets used in the current study are not publicly available due to restrictions made by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Lund, Sweden, but are available from the trial main contact on reasonable request (e.g. for researchers who wants to control or replicate analyses). The person to contact for the dataset is Prof. Björn Johnson (bjorn.johnson@mau.se). |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | 21/04/2021 | 23/04/2021 | Yes | No |
Editorial Notes
23/04/2021: Publication reference added.
31/03/2021: Trial's existence confirmed by the Regional Ethics Review Board in Lund.
