Original Investigation

Selective Personality-Targeted Intervention and the Escalation of Substance Use During Adolescence

JAMA Network Open 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.50176

December 18, 2025 at 11:00 AM EST

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What are the effects of a selective personality-targeted intervention on alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, nonmedical use of opioids, and illicit polysubstance use among adolescents?This secondary analysis of 1669 students in a cluster-randomized clinical trial found that the intervention was effective in reducing frequency of substance use and polysubstance use in adolescents.These findings suggest that selective personality-targeted prevention attenuates the escalation of substance use among adolescents reporting early risk factors for problematic substance use.

Corresponding Authors: Samantha J. Lynch, PhD, (samantha.lynch@umontreal.ca); and Patricia Conrod, PhD (patricia.conrod@umontreal.ca), Azrieli Centre de Recherche, CHU Ste-Justine Mother-Child University Hospital, 3175 Côte-Ste-Catherine, 15 Montréal, QC, H3T 1C5, Canada .

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