Lessons learnt from an unsuccessful feasibility trial for of an addictive behaviour change program for young people

Abstract Background Recruiting young people to addiction research trials poses considerable challenges. Multiple referral pathways across a range of systems, financial incentives, and social media advertisements can improve recruitment outcomes in youth research. In this study, we aimed to assess the feasibility of recruitment to a youth-targeted addiction behaviour change program. Methods Our target sample size was 20 participants. We recruited via a youth mental health treatment service and paid Facebook advertisements with financial compensation for completion of baseline and post-intervention assessments. The program was a youth-tailored version of Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) that was based on our program development work that included interviews with SMART Recovery facilitators and young people. We assessed feasibility of recruitment as the as primary outcome. Results During the recruitment period (October 1st and October 28th, 2021) we recruited one young person. Due to funding-related constraints on timing and staffing, we abandoned the trial. Conclusions Our recruitment efforts failed to enrol sufficient participants required for successful trial delivery. A critique of our recruitment procedures identified multiple factors that help explain these poor outcomes, including that we engaged only one referring service and did not assess buy-in among clinicians at this service; our program may have attempted to reach too broad an audience by targeting health behaviour change rather than specific addictive behaviours; and that we did not mention the financial incentives of participation in our Facebook advertisements. This study provides important insights to guide future recruitment efforts targeting young people to addiction treatment trials. Trial registration The trial was registered with Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry prior to recruitment (ACTRN12621001283864).