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What is SUPER?

Overview

SUPER is a free online resource designed to promote the uptake and utilization of effective, innovative, and youth-centered substance use and mental health prevention programming across California.

Why SUPER?

Substance use during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood dramatically increases the likelihood of developing substance use disorders—as well as physical problems and mental disorders associated with them—later in life. It also puts youth at risk for significant harm such as overdose, infectious diseases, and accidents.1–3

Mental health challenges—which often overlap with substance use problems—also significantly impact youth's well-being, increasing their risk for lower educational achievement, increased justice involvement, worse employment outcomes, lower life satisfaction, and poor quality of life into adulthood.4–7

Prevention science has identified evidence-based practices (EBPs) and empirically supported approaches that reduce substance use, mental health problems, and related threats to youth's health and well-being. However, they are underutilized, and many schools and communities continue implementing prevention programs and strategies that have little or no evidence of effectiveness.8

Furthermore, many prevention EBPs do not adequately account for the specific needs of some youth populations.9 Through initiatives such as The California Reducing Disparities Project and Elevate Youth California, the State of California has fostered significant innovation in youth behavioral health prevention, developing services that are responsive to the specific needs of these groups. These community-defined evidence practices (CDEPs) have strong levels of support at the local level and can help improve prevention-related outcomes statewide.

SUPER gives California counties, prevention providers, tribal entities and others who serve youth with clear and concise information about EBPs, CDEPs, and other key aspects of effective youth behavioral health prevention. This information can be used to support the design and implementation of empirically supported behavioral health prevention services for youth statewide.

How Was SUPER Created?

Review

Conducted a review of EBPW recommendations, other youth prevention EBP repositories, and prevention science frameworks and principles from the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Interviews

Conducted semi-structured interviews with national prevention science experts and California prevention service providers and administrators.

Consultation

Consulted with experts on substance use prevention program development and implementation.

Collaboration

Collaborated with researchers, program leaders, and national experts in youth prevention from the Center for Applied Research Solutions, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Oregon, and the Oregon Research Institute.

SUPER was created through a four-step process: a Review of EBPW recommendations, other youth prevention EBP repositories, and prevention science frameworks and principles from the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Interviews with national prevention science experts and California prevention service providers and administrators; Consultation with experts on substance use prevention program development and implementation; and Collaboration with researchers, program leaders, and national experts in youth prevention from the Center for Applied Research Solutions, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Oregon, and the Oregon Research Institute.

The idea for SUPER grew out of the work of the Evidence-Based Practices Workgroup (EBPW) that DHCS convened from 2018-2020. The EBPW recommended that DHCS create a web-based resource that would support the use of prevention EBPs and CDEPs. It also recommended that the resource should provide information about substance use risk and protective factors, educate visitors about best practices in prevention in addition to EBPs and CDEPs, and align with prevention models and principles established by the Institute of Medicine, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In 2022, DHCS contracted with UCLA's Integrated Substance Use and Addiction Programs (UCLA-ISAP) to create SUPER as part of its Big 5 by 2025 Initiative to support and build state-level infrastructure for behavioral health prevention across California. UCLA-ISAP built SUPER through a multi-step process that included:

  • A comprehensive review of EBPW recommendations, other existing youth prevention EBP repositories, peer-reviewed research on youth behavioral health prevention, and other existing resources that support prevention EBP implementation.
  • Interviews with national subject matter experts and California prevention service providers and administrators.
  • Regular consultation with DHCS and the SUPER Expert Think Tank, which consisted of California prevention providers, county prevention and youth service administrators, and state and national experts in youth behavioral health prevention.
  • Collaboration with youth prevention experts from the Center for Applied Research Solutions, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Oregon, and the Oregon Research Institute.

Based on the results of these activities, UCLA-ISAP developed systems for choosing EBPs and CDEPs to include on SUPER and classifying practices' empirical evidence of impact. Feedback from stakeholders and partners also informed decisions about what information to include on SUPER and how to design the site so it would meet the needs of California communities.

UCLA-ISAP carefully reviewed all practices included on SUPER to ensure that they align with best practices in youth behavioral health prevention and that they are currently available. See How To Use SUPER for information on what SUPER includes and how to navigate the site.

References
1 Grant, B.F., & Dawson, D.A. (1997). Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse, 9, 103-110. doi:10.1016/s0899-3289(97)90009-2
2 Grant, B.F., & Dawson, D.A. (1998). Age of onset of drug use and its association with DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Journal of Substance Abuse, 10(2), 163-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0899-3289(99)80131-X
3 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (NCASA). (2011). Adolescent Substance Use: America's #1 Public Health Problem. New York, NY: Author. https://drugfree.org/wp-content/uploads/drupal/Adolescent-substance-use-americas-no-1-public-health-problem.pdf
4 World Health Organization (2024). Mental Health of Adolescents. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health
5 Schlack, R., Peerenboom, N., Neuperdt, L., Junker, S., & Beyer, A. K. (2021). The effects of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence in young adults: Results of the KiGGS cohort. Journal of Health Monitoring, 6(4), 3. doi:10.25646/8863
6 Veldman, K., Reijneveld, S. A., Ortiz, J. A., Verhulst, F. C., & Bültmann, U. (2015). Mental health trajectories from childhood to young adulthood affect the educational and employment status of young adults: results from the TRAILS study. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 69(6), 588-593. doi:10.1136/jech-2014-204421
7 Copeland, W. E., Wolke, D., Shanahan, L., & Costello, E. J. (2015). Adult functional outcomes of common childhood psychiatric problems: a prospective, longitudinal study. JAMA Psychiatry, 72(9), 892-899. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0730
8 Peters‒Corbett, A., Parke, S., Bear, H., & Clarke, T. (2024). Barriers and facilitators of implementation of evidence‒based interventions in children and young people's mental health care–a systematic review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 29(3), 242-265. doi:10.1111/camh.12672
9 Shapiro, V. B., Eldeeb, N., McCoy, H., Trujillo, M., & Jones, T. M. (2024). Where's the BIPOC blueprint for healthy youth development? The role of scientific omissions in our struggle for science translation and racial equity in the United States. Journal of Prevention, 45(2), 303-321. doi:10.1007/s10935-024-00771-5