Participant Recruitment
RA
RECRUITMENT, RECRUITMENT
This study was conducted between July 1, 2020, and February 28, 2022. Due to restrictions on medical care facilities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study was conducted entirely virtually from July 1, 2020, through February 28, 2021; we used a hybrid model from March 1, 2021, through February 28, 2022.Participants aged 12 to 17 years were recruited virtually and in person from 3 health care settings in Massachusetts: (1) an outpatient adolescent SUD treatment program at a pediatric hospital, (2) an adolescent medicine program at a community pediatric practice affiliated with an academic institution, and (3) 1 of 28 participating pediatric primary care practices. The enrollment of younger adolescents (aged 12-13 years) was capped at 200 because substance use is less common in this age group.Recruitment strategies evolved in response to restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a combination of virtual and in-person strategies, including direct referral from a primary care physician during a virtual health care visit, patient portal messaging, posters and postcards with links to study information, telephone calls made to patients and parents, and in-person recruitment at the study sites. Each recruitment strategy is described in detail in eFigure 1 in We defined “attempted to contact” as any patient who (1) entered a videoconference room, (2) provided contact information (including emailed interest or called or texted the study phone number), (3) received a call from a research assistant (RA), (4) received study information in a videoconference chat during an appointment, or (5) was scheduled for an in-person appointment on a day when a study RA was present in the clinic. Of the 2840 potential participants whom we attempted to contact, approximately 1411 had spoken directly with an RA and were considered invited to participate in the study; the remaining 1429 could not be reached (