Letter to Principals Explaining Study

Attachment 2 –
Letter to Principals Explaining Study & Requesting Participation

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH &
SERVICES
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

HUMAN

Recently you registered your school for, or participated in, the Chat Day event sponsored
by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institutes of Health, and we are
requesting your assistance again. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is
conducting an evaluation of its dissemination video program PEERx, and would like your
school's participation. This study is being conducted under contract to the Institute, Contract
Number HHSN271201300635P, by Strategic Research Associates (SRA), 25 W Cataldo,
Suite D, Spokane, WA 99201; telephone (888) 554-6960.
The PEERx videos are on the NIDA website: http://teens.drugabuse.gov/peerx/choose-yourpath. The purpose of these videos is to disseminate to youth, the harm from prescription
drugs misuse. We are requesting the voluntary participation of your students, teachers, and
school counselors if they are interested, in our short survey effort. The information collected
will assist NIDA to improve the messaging of the videos, - specifically increasing their
appeal, making the message more effective, and reaching more youth from diverse
populations. The PEERx videos can also
be helpful to teachers and schools in engaging their students in discussions on issues
related to prescription drugs misuse.
Participation in the study is completely voluntary, and has no negative or adverse
consequences. Responses will be blinded through the use of unique study IDs, and analysis
of results in the aggregate will be provided to NIDA for internal use.
The study utilizes web-based surveys, one for teachers (and counselors), and one for
students. Surveys will be taken from a survey website(s), during or outside school hours. A
copy of the survey instrument is available for you and your IRB to approve prior to
providing the survey invitation to your population, if necessary. The study has received
general IRB approval for this research effort and will be provided to you if requested.
The study also includes optional in-person focus groups of students who would like to
volunteer. This focus group component of the study is planned for some time after the survey
collection has been completed. A Moderator will guide the focus group discussions, using a
prepared moderator's guide.

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The online surveys should take 10-15 minutes to complete, and the focus group
sessions are planned to last for 60-90 minutes. About 400 students and 50 teachers are
planned for participation the survey nationwide, and a total of 100 students for the
focus groups.
All consent forms will be stored in the Contractor's locked facilities, and NIDA will not
have access to any personal information.
If you agree to your school's participation in this effort please sign and return the consent
form enclosed herein. Below are specifics of the assistance we need from you.
What we need for your School's participation:
• Your signed consent form, and a list of classes and counts of students in each class that
you choose for the study (our target is students in grades 8 through 12)
• We will send you survey information packets for each of your teachers to distribute to
students. Each packet will include instructions for the students, parent consent forms and
student assent forms that need to be signed. We will also send you consent forms for your
teachers, for their participation in the teacher survey. Teachers will collect the signed
consent and assent forms from students, including the teachers' consent forms, for you to
return to our Contractor in a paid return postage envelope that will be provided to you.
• Since the survey takes 10-15 minutes to complete, we recommend teachers allocate free
time or lab computer time to students for the survey. It is also acceptable if students need to
take the survey at home in their free time.
The instructions for the student to get to the survey site will have the survey site URL, and
a unique password or ID to access the survey. This unique ID will enable us to be sure a
student without parental consent does not participate in the survey. It will ensure no
personally identifiable information will be used in the study.
Thank you for your attention to our request. If you have any questions about the study
please contact Joanne Vega, MBA, Project Director, Survey Services, Strategic Research
Associates, and Survey Consultant for this NIDA study, at 509-324-4272, Fax: 509-3247896.
Sincerely,

Carol Krause, M.A.
Chief, Public Information and Liaison Branch
Office of Science Policy and Communications