Evaluation of a family-based substance abuse prevention program targeted for the middle school years

A family-based substance abuse prevention program was evaluated which emphasizes family cohesion, school and peer attachment, self-esteem, and attitudes about adolescent use of alcohol and tobacco. The program was implemented in rural communities and targeted families with students entering middle or junior high school. Baseline surveys were conducted with students and parents in four schools and were readministered one year later. Because the program was voluntary, a quasi-experimental design was used to compare participants (29 students and 28 parents) and nonparticipants (268 students and 134 parents). Analyses of covariance indicated that student participants, as compared to nonparticipants, had higher family cohesion, less family fighting, greater school attachment, higher self-esteem, and believed that alcohol should be consumed at an older age at the one year follow-up. There were fewer significant results for parent participants. Strategies for involving parents in prevention programs are discussed.     

Say Yes First: follow up of a five-year rural drug prevention program

Say Yes First--To Rural Youth and Family Alcohol/Drug Prevention (SYF) was a 5-year, federally-funded U.S.D.H.H.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) project that involved 859 children in the class of the year 2000. The children in four rural school districts were followed from Grade 4 to Grade 8 from 1991 to 1996. Initial results in a previous publication showed significant lower drug usage in this cohort than comparison students. A follow-up of 120 SYF participants and 136 comparison students in high schools using the National Youth Survey (Follow Up Questionnaire) indicated lower usage of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs for the program students and lower lifetime prevalence of marijuana use for program vs. comparison students. SYF students had higher course grades, lower school absenteeism, more positive attitudes toward school, less trouble in school and less negative self-appraisal. Program students also reported greater participation in sports, more family communication and fewer disagreements or arguments with their parents.     

Drug prevention with high risk families and young children

The effects of a school and home-based drug prevention program on risk factors for subsequent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among children were studied. Data on parent and child risk factors for ATOD use were collected from fifty-six low-income parents and their children, ages four to six years, using a pretest-posttest design. The parent-child intervention was conducted over a two-month period. The intervention had no effect on parent or child risk factors. However, the program was favorably received by parents and children. Almost two-thirds of the parents at the experimental school were involved in the program. Almost half of the parents had high depressive symptoms. The high rates of ATOD use and depressive symptoms among these parents are cause for concern.     

Results of a social norm intervention to prevent binge drinking among first-year residential college students

The effects of a primary prevention social norm intervention on binge drinking among 1st-year residential college students were examined. Six hundred thirty-four students attending a medium-sized public university in the South were randomly assigned to receive a two-phase social norm intervention or the standard campus psychoeducational prevention program. At posttest, no differences were found between intervention and control group students on any of the alcohol use and alcohol-use risk factor measures. Significant subgroup differences were found by stage of initiating binge drinking behaviors, for frequency of alcohol use, F(3, 507) = 3.69, p = .01; quantity of alcohol use, F(3, 507) = 2.51, p = .05; and social norms, F(3, 505) = 2.53, p = .05. These findings suggest the need for tailoring social norm binge drinking interventions to students' stage of initiating heavy drinking and carefully monitoring for potential negative, as well as positive, effects of norm-based prevention messages.     

Results of a Social Norm Intervention to Prevent Binge Drinking Among First-year Residential College Students

Abstract

The effects of a primary prevention social norm intervention on binge drinking among 1st-year residential college students were examined. Six hundred thirty-four students attending a medium-sized public university in the South were randomly assigned to receive a two-phase social norm intervention or the standard campus psychoeducational prevention program. At posttest, no differences were found between intervention and control group students on any of the alcohol use and alcohol-use risk factor measures. Significant subgroup differences were found by stage of initiating binge drinking behaviors, for frequency of alcohol use, F(3, 507) = 3.69, p = .01; quantity of alcohol use, F(3, 507) = 2.51, p = .05; and social norms, F(3, 505) = 2.53, p = .05. These findings suggest the need for tailoring social norm binge drinking interventions to students' stage of initiating heavy drinking and carefully monitoring for potential negative, as well as positive, effects of norm-based prevention messages.     

Examining residence status as a risk factor for health risk behaviors among college students

Objective: The current study is aimed to evaluate college student residence as a unique risk factor for a range of negative health behaviors. Participants: We examined data from 63,555 students (66% females) from 157 campuses who completed the National College Health Assessment Survey in Spring 2011. Methods: Participants answered questions about the frequency of recent use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drugs, as well as sexual risk behavior in the last 30 days. Sexual risk behaviors were operationalized as having unprotected vaginal sex (yes/no) and the number of sexual partners. Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that living off-campus is a unique predictor of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and illicit drug use, as well as engaging in unprotected sex and a greater number of sexual partners (all ps <. 01). Conclusions: Students living off-campus exhibit more substance use and sexual risk behaviors than students living on-campus, independent of gender, age, or race.     

Efficacy of a web-based, tailored, alcohol prevention/intervention program for college students: 3-month follow-up

This study presents the results of an efficacy evaluation of a web-based brief motivational alcohol prevention/intervention program called Michigan Prevention and Alcohol Safety for Students (M-PASS). Four on-line sessions providing individually-tailored feedback were delivered to first-year college students over 9 weeks. Non- and low-risk drinking participants received risk prevention, while high-risk drinking participants received a risk-reduction intervention. Both intervention and control groups were surveyed at baseline and at a 3-month follow-up. Analysis showed positive effects for both men and women on stage of change, drinking behavior, drinking motivation and attitudes, and use of risk-reduction strategies. These results provided evidence of efficacy and found that M-PASS had both intervention and prevention effects, making it unique among currently developed brief alcohol interventions for college students.     

Adult Children's Relationships With Married Parents,Divorced Parents,and Stepparents: Biology,Marriage, or Residence?

The author compared the strength of the relationships that adult children have with different types of parents: biological parents who remained married, stepparents, and biological parents who divorced. He analyzed Dutch life history data containing detailed measures of living arrangements and used multilevel models to make comparisons both between and within children (N = 4,454). The results revealed large differences in the strength of ties across parent types, but these were strongly reduced when differences in the length of shared residence during childhood were taken into account. Nonetheless, even after differences in investment opportunities were considered, there were negative effects of divorce and positive effects of biological relatedness. The “marriage protection” effect was stronger, especially for fathers, than the biological relatedness effect, pointing to the primacy of marriage over biology for parent–child relations in adulthood.     

Analyzing attrition in a community-based literacy program

Attrition presents a challenge for research, especially when it affects groups differentially. The present study used the strategy proposed by Cook and Campbell (1979) to investigate attrition in a community-based literacy program. The relationship of attrition to person-centered and program-centered variables, and the interactions between person-centered and program-centered variables were examined in 287 Head Start families. Thus, data from this program were used to illustrate methods for examining attrition and determine its effects. This examination revealed differences among the intervention groups in the pattern of attrition. There were interactions between intervention program-centered characteristics and person-centered characteristics of the participants that could affect the validity of the study and limit the generalizability of the results. Suggestions for dealing with these problems and preventing attrition are discussed.     

Parent training to reduce problem behaviors over the transition to high school: Tests of indirect effects through improved emotion regulation skills

Adolescent problem behaviors are costly for individuals and society. Promoting the self-regulatory functioning of youth may help prevent the development of such behaviors. Parent-training and family intervention programs have been shown to improve child and adolescent self-regulation. This study helps fill gaps in knowledge by testing for indirect effects of the Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) program on reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions through previously identified short-term improvements in parents' reports of their children's emotion regulation skills. Over two cohorts, 321 low income families of 8th graders were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the standard CSP program, an adapted CSP Plus program, or a minimal-contact control condition. Pretest, posttest, 1-year follow-up, and 2-year follow-up survey assessments were completed by parents and students with 94% retention. Intent-to-treat multivariate path analyses were conducted. Neither intervention had statistically significant total effects on the three targeted adolescent outcomes. CSP, but not CSP Plus, had statistically significant indirect effects on reduced substance use and school suspensions at the 1-year follow-up as well as conduct problems and school suspensions at the 2-year follow-up through increased child emotion regulation skills at posttest. Findings provide some support for emotion regulation as one pathway through which the intervention was associated, indirectly, with reduced substance use, conduct problems, and school suspensions among at-risk students over the high school transition.     

Project Northland in Croatia: results and lessons learned

As part of an international public health partnership formed in 2001 we assessed the impact of Project Northland in Croatia--an adolescent alcohol school-based prevention intervention implemented in Split--on students. The curriculum was implemented in 13 randomly selected schools with another 13 schools serving as controls. The evaluation included quantitative and qualitative methods, using pre/post-tests to compare intervention and controls and follow-up focus groups with parents and teachers. Quantitative data showed the intervention was more successful in changing attitudes in the first two years, but had less impact on older students. Qualitative data suggest benefits from the program overall. Given the intervention was successful in the earlier grades it should be initiated earlier to have a greater impact. Challenges and lessons learned are offered.     

Differences in drinking expectancies and motives for regular education and special education high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders

Alcohol expectancies and drinking motives were compared for regular education students (n=159) and students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) receiving special education services (n=51). Differences existed between groups with respect to expected negative social consequences and emotional and physical outcomes associated with drinking. Across groups, drinkers reported more positive alcohol expectancies than non-drinkers, while non-drinkers reported more negative alcohol expectancies than drinkers. Differences also existed between the regular education and EBD students who drank with respect to coping, conformity, and social motives. Accounting for sample sizes differences, the relationship between alcohol use and negative physical effect was stronger for regular education students, while the relationship between alcohol use and conformity motives was stronger for the EBD group.     

Changes in couple,parenting, and individual functioning following Family Expectations program participation

The current study investigated changes in couple, parenting, and individual functioning following participation in Family Expectations, a relationship and parenting education program for new or expectant parents. The sample comprised 339 couples who participated in most sessions of the Family Expectations program and completed assessments at three different time points over a 12-month period. Study analyses examined: (a) change shortly following completion of the program, (b) associations between short-term change and subsequent change in outcomes at 12-month follow-up, and (c) differences in short-term change between married and unmarried couples. Significant improvements were observed in all three domains at short-term follow-up. Short-term changes, particularly for psychological distress, were predictive of long-term change in multiple domains. Few moderation effects by marital status were evident; those that appeared suggested stronger effects for married participants compared to unmarried. Study findings inform ongoing discussions into the utility of federally-funded relationship and parenting programming.     

Attitudinal and normative predictors of alcohol use by older adolescents and young adults

A model of alcohol use based on the theory of planned behavior, expectancy theory, and the developmental literature on the influence of parents and peers was examined with 87 eleventh grade students, 105 college freshmen, and 107 college juniors. Specifically, the influence of attitudes about the positive and negative consequences of drinking, perceived parental and peer norms about alcohol consumption, and perceived control over drinking predicted self-reported alcohol use. The results suggest that, during adolescence, decisions to consume alcohol are rational, based on the consideration of the positive consequences of alcohol use and perceptions of control over drinking; however, the negative consequences of alcohol use are discounted. While perceived peer norms predicted alcohol consumption in all three age groups, the influence of perceived parental norms varied such that they predicted alcohol use only among the college juniors. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Trends from 1987 to 1991 in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among adolescents exposed to a school district-wide prevention intervention.

This study involved a school-based prevention program initiated to reduce alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among adolescents in the Troy School District in the Detroit area. One purpose was to describe the current ATOD situation by investigating changes in reported ATOD use from 1987 to 1991. Another purpose was to explore and identify the most salient risk and protective factors present. In 1987, 1,490 students (comprising grades 8 and 11) and in 1991, 3,171 students (comprising grades 8 to 12) completed questionnaires. Significant decreases were found for use of most drugs with the exception of alcohol. Involvement in problem behaviors was identified as the most salient risk factor, while having a member of a non-using peer group was the most salient protective factor. Implications for the design of subsequent intervention programs are discussed.     

Binge drinking in female college students: the association of physical activity, weight concern, and depressive symptoms

As an initial step in building gender-specific binge drinking intervention programs, the authors investigated the relation of potentially modifiable factors (physical activity level, weight concern, and depressive symptoms) to binge drinking while controlling for the effects of previously established correlates of binge drinking (tobacco and marijuana use, GPA, and perception of peer alcohol use). Four-hundred-twelve college women completed an in-class survey. Multivariate analyses revealed that tobacco and marijuana use, GPA, and physical activity were significantly associated with binge drinking, whereas tobacco use and perception of peers' alcohol use were associated with more frequent binge drinking. The findings suggested that the variables associated with any binge drinking and frequency of binge drinking may differ and that binge drinking can be associated with positive health behaviors (ie, greater physical activity) as well as risky health behaviors (eg, tobacco use).     

Longitudinal Effects of Best‐Friend Communication Against Substance Use for Latino and Non‐Latino White Early Adolescents

Prior research examining peer influences on adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use has primarily focused on the positive associations that peer substance use and offers have with adolescent use. Consequently, such research has often emphasized the negative influences of peers. This study, however, operationalizes peer influence through best‐friend communication against substance use and examines whether it indirectly protects against substance use by promoting anti–substance use norms. Structural equation modeling was utilized with longitudinal survey data from 277 Latino and 350 non‐Latino white 6th–8th‐grade‐students. For Latino and non‐Latino white students, best‐friend communication was indirectly related to alcohol and cigarette use through norms. Best‐friend communication also was indirectly related to marijuana use, but only for non‐Latino white students and for male students.     

An Examination of Drinkers’ Consequences by Sexual Orientation

Abstract

Objective: This study examined college student drinkers by sexual orientation (SO), alcohol use, and negative consequences in a national sample that self-identified gender and SO. Participants: Students completing the Spring 2005 National College Health Assessment (N = 54,111). Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted examining student responses by SO to items regarding negative consequences associated with alcohol. Results: Bisexual students had the highest mean scores on an index of alcohol-related harm. Significant differences were found by SO among male high-risk drinkers for alcohol-related consequences of “fighting” and “injuring another,” and females for “injuring another” and “unprotected sex.” Bisexual students had significantly greater than expected cell counts for significant results, including a significant finding for bisexual low-risk female students for alcohol-related “regret.” Conclusion: These findings suggest that more research is necessary to discern real differences in alcohol-related risk among college students by sexual orientation.     

Social Activity, School-Related Activity, and Anti-Substance Use Media Messages on Adolescent Tobacco and Alcohol Use

In this article, we present the effects of three hypothesized protective factors: social activities, school-related activities, and anti-substance use media messages on adolescent tobacco and alcohol use. Data were drawn from the "Monitoring the Future" (MTF) research project, which was conducted by the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The sample included 2,551 twelfth-grade students. The results of the structural equation model showed that exposure to media anti-drug messages had an indirect negative effect on tobacco and alcohol use through school-related activity and social activity. The results suggest that comprehensive ecological interventions encompassing media, family, and school can increase on the preventive effects of adolescent's substance use.