UC San Diego

Increasing access to and utilization of alcohol use services for ethnically diverse adolescents remains an important public health concern. This study examined whether a voluntary, school-based, developmentally-tailored alcohol use intervention (i.e., Project Options) engaged and retained ethnically diverse participants across three cities. The role of group and school diversity characteristics (i.e., ethnic diversity, ethnic congruence of individual and context) in engagement and retention was explored. A total of 596 participants across six schools were included in analyses. Overall, the intervention engaged and retained ethnically diverse participants consistent with each school context (79.7% returned for additional sessions). Mixed-effects logistic models demonstrated that Black/African American participants were more likely to return to the intervention compared to Non-Hispanic White, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic participants. Group and school diversity characteristics did not impact participants’ return to the intervention. Findings provide initial evidence that Project Options is adaptable to the sociocultural context of different implementation sites.