Peer power: can friends help curb substance use in young africans?

NCT ID NCT06489899

Disease control Sponsor: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026

Summary

This trial tests a peer-led program called PEGISUS to reduce substance use and promote fair gender beliefs among 264 young people (ages 16-24) in vocational training in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. Participants in peer groups will attend eight sessions, while a control group gets standard training and a healthcare referral. The study will measure substance use at 12 and 24 weeks.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: PEGISUS peer education program (behavioral intervention)
What this could lead to: If it works, this could provide a low-cost, scalable way to reduce substance use and improve gender attitudes among young people in vocational training.
What could go wrong: This is a small pilot trial, so results may not be generalizable. The intervention is behavioral and relies on self-report, which can be biased.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 264 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Sep 2024

Expected to finish

Jul 2026

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

16 to 24 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Adolescents and young adults 16 - 24 years old * At least weekly self-reported alcohol/drug use in a peer group in the past month or at least monthly heavy episodic drinking with peers over the past three months * Comfortable communicating in the predominant local language or English * Lives in the target community and plans to remain in the area for the next 12 months * Eligible to participate in the vocational training (VT) program (according to the VT program's own entry guidelines) and willing to participate in the entirety of the program * Interested to participate in a substance reduction and gender equity beliefs program and able to identify 2 to 5 peers to join * Willing to have PEGISUS workshop sessions audio/video-recorded (if assigned to that group) Exclusion Criteria: * Untreated major mental illness that interferes with study participation, such as active suicidality, or unmanaged bipolar disorder or psychotic disorder * Currently receiving psychological treatment for substance use * Participation in another VT/skills development program or another trial that is judged by the site investigator as non-compatible with this study * Unable to provide informed consent or informed assent

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Coitus substance abuse substance-related disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Gender role Substance use

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

3 sites in 3 countries. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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A doctor treating you

A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Peer power: can friends help curb substance use in young africans?

What the study statuses mean