Exploring the role of emotional and behavioral problems in a personality-targeted prevention program for substance use in adolescents and young adults with intellectual disability

Background: Adolescents and young adults with a mild intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning (MID-BIF) are at risk for problematic substance use and are more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems than peers without MID-BIF. A personality-targeted prevention program called Take it Personal! effectively reduces substance use in adolescents and young adults with MID-BIF. Aims: The program’s effectiveness was examined on its secondary goal: reducing emotional and behavioral problems. The potentially moderating role of these problems on the program's effectiveness with substance use was also explored. Methods and procedures: Substance use and emotional and behavioral problems were compared between participants in Take it Personal! (n = 34) and those in the control condition (n = 32) in a quasi-experimental pre-posttest study with a three-month follow-up. Effectiveness and moderation were assessed with multilevel models. Outcomes and results: Take it Personal! seems to reduce rule breaking. There were no significant effects on anxiety, withdrawal, and aggression. None of the problem domains moderated the program’s effectiveness on substance use frequency. Conclusions and implications: Take it Personal! may effectively reduce rule breaking. Moreover, adolescent and young adults with different levels of emotional and behavioral problems benefit equally in terms of reduced substance use