Past Research Projects | Overview
The Weitzman Lab is advancing knowledge about disease and treatment experiences, quality of life, risk behaviors, and health outcomes of youth with a chronic illness, including in investigations that “add the voice of the patient” into disease registries and cohort studies. The Weitzman Lab is currently recruiting for several studies and periodically has openings for post-doctoral fellows or collaborative opportunities. If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to contact us for more information.
Substance Use Among Youth
Evaluation of School Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment in Massachusetts Public Schools
In 2015, Massachusetts passed a law calling for schools to offer Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to all students statewide. MA House Bill 4056 calls for the implementation of verbal substance use screening protocols to be implemented in all public schools by 2018. As SBIRT programs are implemented in schools across the state, there is an opportunity to assess how SBIRT impacts student health and behaviors.
This project aimed to evaluate the impact of school SBIRT on health and behavioral outcomes among adolescents through case-control comparison of youth in school who are implementing on different timelines, under a quasi-experimental model, additionally evaluating SBIRT implementation models using stakeholder interviews. Results informed effective, sustainable policy change in school-based SBIRT efforts.
Project Co-PIs: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc; Dr. Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
Funder: Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation
Presentation
A Multi-Site Case Study Evaluation of Mandated SBIRT Policy in Massachusetts Public Schools
- Authors: Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc; Kara Magane, MS; Sharon Levy, MD, MPH; Julie Lunstead, MPH
- Presented at: Society of Behavioral Medicine 2018
Detecting Youth Drinking and Associations with Alcohol Policies via Social Media
In this study, we developed and tested an innovative approach to public health monitoring of alcohol use and binge drinking using public social media posts. Using natural language processing, we mined large amounts of Twitter data to produce estimates of state-level prevalence of alcohol consumption, comparing this to estimates produced from existing “gold standard” monitoring systems (the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System). We also tested the relationship between social media metrics of alcohol use and the alcohol policy environment by assessing variations related to state level alcohol policy controls.
Project PI: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Funder: NIH/NIAAA
Adolescent and Young Adult Research Network
The leading causes of morbidity and mortality during adolescence and emerging adulthood may be preventable and often mediated by health behaviors established during this time, such as alcohol use. The individual and societal burdens, financial and otherwise, of these preventable health problems and risk behaviors during emerging adulthood likely contribute substantially to the long-term costs of chronic disease in the US. As such, there is increasing interest in improving access to care for adolescents and young adults (AYA) and providing prevention-oriented activities to aid the adoption of healthy behaviors in order to ensure healthy and productive life course trajectories for this growing population. In order to address vulnerabilities in access to care, particularly preventive care, it is first necessary to quantify care seeking patterns during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and to determine if and to what extent risk behaviors and chronic conditions modify these profiles.
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Ozer, PhD
Project PI: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Adolescent Views and Experiences with Vaping
This project aimed to conduct key informant interviews with current patients being treated for nicotine vaping in the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program (ASAP), in order to inform the development of a vaping group therapy curriculum, a training manual, and protocol for counseling professionals and a companion manual for primary care providers.
Project PI: Dr. Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
Project Investigator: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Funder: Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare
Predictive Measures
Validating Adolescent Substance Use Measures
This project aimed to define and disseminate a set of brief and easy to administer measures to accurately detect substance use frequency and substance-specific patient centered outcomes among adolescent populations. We developed novel questions and validated them against criterion standard measures using self-administered electronic surveys.
Project Co-PIs: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc; Dr. Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Presentations
Marijuana-related beliefs in adolescents: Moving beyond perceived riskiness of marijuana use
- Authors: Nicholas Chadi, MD, MPH; Sharon Levy, MD, MPH; Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: CPPD 2019
- Authors: Machiko Minegishi, MD, MPH; Sharon Levy, MD, MPH; Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: PAS 2022
Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Adolescent Alcohol Use Behaviors
- Authors: Machiko Minegishi, MD, MPH; Alexandra Chretien, BA, MPH; Rachele Cox, BA, MPH; Sharon Levy, MD, MPH; Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: SAHM 2022
- Authors: Joe Kossowsky, PhD, MMSc; Machiko Minegishi MD, MPH; Sharon Levy, MD, MPH; Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: SAHM 2022
Chronic Illness in Youth
Trial of a Novel Brief Intervention for Substance Use Among Youth with Chronic Medical Conditions
In this project, we developed and tested (in a set of randomized controlled trials) a set of measures of adolescent substance use and patient-centered intermediary outcomes and a brief, electronic self-administered intervention to reduce alcohol use among youth with chronic medical conditions. The intervention is patient-centered and draws on epidemiological and ethnographic research. The project rests on a framework that posits “four legs” of influence shaping youth outcomes – patient, parent, provider and policy.
Funder: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Project Co-PIs: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc, Dr. Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
Presentations
Barriers and Beliefs Associated with Alcohol Use Screening Frequency by Pediatric Specialists
- Authors: Kara M. Magane, MS, Lauren E. Wisk, PhD, Sharon Levy, MD, MPH, Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: PAS 2017
Pediatric specialists’ concerns regarding marijuana use among adolescent patients
- Authors: Dylan Kaye, BA, Kara M. Magane, MS, Lauren E. Wisk, PhD, Sharon Levy, MD, MPH, Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: AMERSA 2017
Substance Use Screening and Brief Intervention: Tools for healthy and medically vulnerable teens
- Authors: Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc and Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
- Presented at: Conrad N. Hilton Annual Meeting 2018
Alcohol use beliefs and behaviors of parents of medically vulnerable youth
- Authors: Kara M. Magane, MS, Lauren E. Wisk, PhD, Adna Glusac, BA, Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: ICBM 2018
- Authors: Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc, Lauren Wisk, PhD, Kara Magane, MS, Julie Lunstead, MS, Sharon Levy, MD, MPH
- Presented at: ICBM 2018
Health Promotion in Transition: Effects of Web-Based Health Information on Disease Management and Alcohol Use for Youth with Type 1 Diabetes in College
In this project, we developed and tested (in a set of randomized controlled trials) a brief, electronic self-administered intervention to reduce alcohol use among youth with chronic medical conditions. The intervention is patient-centered, draws on epidemiological and ethnographic research, and clinical trials evaluated the impacts and effects of the intervention among college students with Type 1 diabetes.
Project Co-PIs: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc; Dr. Lauren Wisk, PhD
Funder: Boston Children’s Hospital Research Faculty Council Pilot Award
Presentation
Substance Use, Self-Management, and HbA1c among College Students with Type 1 Diabetes
- Authors: Lauren E. Wisk, PhD, Eliza B. Nelson, MPH, Kara M. Magane, MS, Elissa R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc
- Presented at: PAS 2018
Developing Patient and Family Centered Approaches for Measuring and Improving Transition Readiness and Self-Efficacy
18 million U.S. adolescents, ages 18–21, are moving into adulthood and will need to transition from pediatric to adult-centered healthcare. Despite the recognized importance of a planned healthcare transition (HCT), particularly for youth with chronic medical conditions (YCMC), many youth are ill-prepared and/or unsuccessful in achieving a timely, high-quality HCT and there is no consensus on best practices for improving HCT. This lack of evidence-based models to support HCT subjects YCMC to gaps in medical care and adverse health outcomes as a result. To address this gap, this study’s overarching goal is to establish patient preferences for HCT models that can guide selection of effective HCT interventions. Identifying patient-centered interventions that address the most prominent HCT needs for YCMC stands to improving both clinical and patient-centered HCT outcomes.
Project PI: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Funders: Academic Pediatric Association and Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality
Secondary Data Analyses of Panel Study of Income Dynamics
This project involves retrospective analysis of an un-identifiable claims database from a nationwide US health insurance plan inclusive of at least 22.5 million youth members to measure their healthcare service utilization, substance use, psychosocial status, and health outcomes. We investigated trends in prevalence of substance use disorders and related problems among adolescents and young adults from 2008-2016, including examining these trends by gender. Furthermore, we estimated the odds that adolescents/young adults will experience alcohol- or other substance use-related events/problems, comparing risk for youth with and without a chronic medical condition. The project aimed to generate evidence of the prevalence, correlates and consequences for disease outcomes, health harms and healthcare cost of alcohol and other substance use problems among chronically ill adolescents/young adults. Results will provide a roadmap for clinical and system level interventions with potential to improve the health status of young people at risk from both substance use and chronic illness.
Project PI: Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Funder: None
Patient-Reported Outcomes: Quality of Life for Youth with Chronic Illness
The Learning Cohort: Collecting Patient Reported Outcomes from CARRA Registry Participants
This project engaged at least 400 CARRA Registry participants/caregivers (at least 100 patients at each of the 4 sites) in providing structured electronic patient-reported outcomes (PROs) on their health condition(s) including information needs, symptoms, medications, quality of life, and physical/social/emotional function around the time of a clinic visit. In a later phase of the study (estimated in study year 2) we provided participants with access to their own self-reported health data as well as summary data from the registry, in order to provide contextualizing information pertinent to a family’s healthcare experience.
Boston Children's Hospital was the coordinating center for this study. The four sites where patients of patient enrollment were Boston Children's Hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center, Seattle Children's Hospital, and University Hospital of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Project PI: Dr. Elissa Weitzman, ScD, MSc
Funder: National Library of Medicine