Peer and parent influences on alcohol use and related risky behaviors were examined in a sample of late adolescent (M = 17.3 years; SD = 1.11 years) urban youth. Participants (N = 400) completed an online measure assessing peer influences... more
Peer and parent influences on alcohol use and related risky behaviors were examined in a sample of late adolescent (M = 17.3 years; SD = 1.11 years) urban youth. Participants (N = 400) completed an online measure assessing peer influences of alcohol use and alcohol offers, and parent influences of rules against alcohol use and perceived levels of emotional family support, relative to youths' alcohol use, binge drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and intentions to drink. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that increased peer alcohol use and alcohol offers were associated with youths' increased drinking, binge drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and intentions to drink. Controlling for peer influences, parental rules against alcohol use were associated with decreased drinking, binge drinking, and intentions to drink; increased levels of family support was associated with decreased alcohol-related consequences and intentions to drink. These findings suggest that ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Technology transfer, Preventive medicine, Adolescent, Prevention, Schools, and 16 morePolicy making, Humans, Female, Male, Follow-up studies, Drug abuse, Middle Aged, CD-ROM, Information Dissemination, Adult, Public health systems and services research, Curriculum and Pedagogy, Pamphlets, Internet, Substance-Related Disorders, and Exploratory Study
Research Interests: Health Promotion, Health Behavior, Prevention Science, Adolescent, Drug Use, and 13 moreSelf Efficacy, Humans, Substance Abuse, Substance Use, Intervention, Female, Drug abuse, Questionnaires, Public health systems and services research, Alcohol Use, Internet, Substance-Related Disorders, and Control Group
SUMMARYThis study examined the feasibility of a CD-ROM intervention to prevent alcohol abuse among high-risk youths. Youths from 41 community-based agencies in greater New York City participated in a randomized trial of a skills-based... more
SUMMARYThis study examined the feasibility of a CD-ROM intervention to prevent alcohol abuse among high-risk youths. Youths from 41 community-based agencies in greater New York City participated in a randomized trial of a skills-based interactive CD-ROM. Outcome data were collected on 489 early adolescents in these agencies before and after a randomized subset of youths interacted with a 10-session alcohol abuse prevention program on CD-ROM. Compared to control participants, youths in the intervention arm had a positive increase in perceived harm of alcohol use and increased assertiveness skills. At posttest, drinking rates for control and intervention participants were equal and unchanged from pretest. These findings suggest that CD-ROM technology offers a new and promising medium for engaging high-risk youth in an alcohol abuse prevention program. Study implications and future applications of the present approach are discussed.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Program Evaluation, Education, Health Promotion, Health Education, Adolescent Health, and 15 moreAdolescent, Self Efficacy, Humans, Child, New York City, Computer Assisted Instruction, Female, Sexual Behavior, HIV Prevention, Computer User Interface Design, Self Concept, CD-ROM, Risk Reduction, Analysis of Variance, and Adolescent Behavior
This study developed and tested a gender-specific intervention for preventing substance abuse among adolescent girls. Delivered on CD-ROM by computer, the program was compared with a conventional substance abuse prevention program... more
This study developed and tested a gender-specific intervention for preventing substance abuse among adolescent girls. Delivered on CD-ROM by computer, the program was compared with a conventional substance abuse prevention program delivered live in a group setting. Seventh-grade girls in New York City middle schools completed pretests, and, by school, were randomly assigned to receive either gender-specific computer intervention (GSI) or conventional intervention, and were posttested. Analyses of pretest to posttest gain scores showed GSI girls compared to girls receiving conventional intervention to possess a larger repertoire of stress-reduction methods, to report lower approval of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs, to identify more unhealthy ways to deal with stress, to report lower likelihood of cigarette use or alcohol consumption if asked to do so by best friends, and to hold stronger plans to avoid cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs in the next year. These modest findings lend credence to the promise of gender-specific, computerized interventions for substance abuse prevention among adolescent girls.