Development and evaluation of a teacher training programme for a Group Motivational Interviewing intervention to prevent alcohol misuse in secondary schools [GMI_ALC]

Delaying adolescent initiation of alcohol consumption and reducing existing use is a public health priority, for which school-based interventions are required. In the UK, alcohol education is delivered through the Personal and Social Education [PSE] curriculum. Curriculum approaches for PSE traditionally emphasise a didactic approach yet evidence for their effect on health behaviors is mixed. We previously developed a Group Motivational Interviewing [GMI] lesson that encourages students to engage, interact and clarify personal motivations for and against alcohol use. In this current study, we co-produced a training intervention for secondary school teachers to deliver the GMI alcohol-focused lesson via an iterative consultation process with students, teachers and other key stakeholders. The training was delivered to 13 teachers from five schools in Wales, sampled to reflect socio-demographic diversity. Trained teachers delivered the GMI lesson to their students (11 classes, 263 students) and lessons were observed and audio-recorded. Survey data, collected after the lesson, captured student experience. We assessed acceptability of the lesson and training through interviews with the trained teachers (n=11) and focus groups (n=8) with the students. Fidelity to GMI was assessed using an adapted version of AMIGOS. Findings suggest that it is feasible to train teachers to deliver a structured GMI educational intervention and that delivery by a teacher is acceptable to students. Survey and focus group data suggest that students deepened their understanding of alcohol, became aware of their own and others’ opinions and thought about future alcohol consumption. Teachers felt that GMI skills developed via training could be applied to other lessons within the PSE curriculum. An effectiveness study is planned to determine impact of the GMI intervention on student health behavior and test intermediary outcomes. This next phase will test sustainability mechanisms for training teachers at scale to deliver the GMI intervention