Project Findings and Research Foundation
Manuscripts (4/93-9/09)
In Press/Accepted | |
| Biglan, A., Hallfors, D., Spoth, R., Gottfredson, D., & Cody, C. (In press). Effective strategies for nurturing successful development in school settings.Chapter in forthcoming volume to be published by the US Department of Education. (PF 89) | |
| Research over the last 30 years has clearly delineated the conditions in schools that minimize aggressive and disruptive behavior and promote peaceful, cooperative, and socially successful behavior. In this paper, we describe five strategies proven to assure these outcomes, and give examples of tested programs that use these strategies. | |
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| Spoth, R., Guyll, M., & Shin, C. (In press). Universal Intervention as a Protective Shield Against Exposure to Substance Use: Long-Term Outcomes and Public Health Significance. American Journal of Public Health. (PF 142) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., & Turrisi, R.. (In press). Overview of Preventive Interventions Addressing Underage Drinking: State of the Evidence and Steps Toward Public Health Impact. Alcohol Research and Health. (PF 156) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Mason, W. A., Hitchings, J. E., & Spoth, R. (2009). Longitudinal relations among negative affect, substance use and peer deviance during the transition from middle to late adolescence. Substance Use and Misuse, 44, 1142-1159 (PF 124) | |
| The transition from middle to late adolescence brings developmental challenges that increase risk for emotional, behavioral, and social problems. Currently, the nature of the associations among these types of problems is poorly understood. This National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study examined longitudinal relations among negative affect, substance use, and peer deviance from ages 16 to 18 years. Multiwave youth- and parent-report questionnaire data collected from 429 6th-graders (222 girls) and their families residing in the rural Midwestern United States and recruited in 1993 were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Consistent with the self-medication hypothesis, negative affect statistically predicted increased substance use over time. Implications for theory development and prevention are discussed and the study’s limitations are noted. Available online at : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10826080802495211 | |
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| Mason, W. A., Kosterman, R., Haggerty, K. P., Hawkins, J. D., Redmond, C., Spoth, R. L., & Shin, C. (2009). Gender moderation and social developmental mediation of the effect of a family-focused substance use preventive intervention on young adult alcohol abuse. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 599–605. (PF 133) | |
| This study examined the long-term impact of Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) on young adult alcohol abuse disorder, addressing theory-based questions about how, and for whom, the program had its effects on the outcomes. Participants were 429 families of 6th graders enrolled in 33 rural schools located in the Midwestern United States. Schools were randomly assigned to conditions. Target adolescents (52% female) were interviewed periodically from age 11 to age 22; throughout adolescence, information was collected also from the youths’ parents. Moderation and mediation analyses were conducted using regression analysis and structural equation modeling with covariates measured at baseline (age 11), mediators measured at posttest (age 12), and the outcome measured at the young adult follow-up (age 22). Results showed that PDFY reduced the rate of alcohol abuse among target young women, with evidence that this effect was mediated by increased prosocial skills. The rate of alcohol abuse among PDFY group men was not significantly different from that of control group men. Findings have implications for reducing the public health burden of alcohol abuse among young women. | |
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| Spoth, R., Trudeau, L., Guyll, M., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2009). Universal Intervention Effects on Substance Use Among Young Adults Mediated by Delayed Adolescent Substance Initiation. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 77(4), 620–632 (PF 144) | |
| This paper examines whether delayed substance initiation during adolescence, achieved through universal family-focused interventions conducted in middle school, can reduce problematic substance use during young adulthood. Sixth grade students and their families enrolled in 33 rural Midwestern schools were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions. Self-report questionnaires provided data at seven time points for the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY), and control groups through young adulthood. Five young adult substance frequency measures (drunkenness, alcohol-related problems, cigarettes, illicit drugs, polysubstance use) were modeled as distal outcomes affected by the average level and rate of increase in substance initiation across the adolescent years in latent growth curve analyses. Results showed that the models fit the data and that they were robust across outcomes and interventions, with more robust effects found for ISFP. The addition of direct intervention effects on young adult outcomes was not supported, suggesting long-term effects were primarily indirect. Relative reduction rates were calculated to quantify intervention-control differences on the estimated proportion of young adults indicating problematic substance use; they ranged from 19 to 31% for ISFP and 9 to 16% for PDFY. | |
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| Spoth, R., Trudeau, L., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2009). Further clear examples of the need for more reasonable conclusions and critiques about prevention. Addiction, 104, 154-155. (PF 153) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Feinberg, M. E., Kim J. Y., & Greenberg, M. T. (2008). Personality and community prevention teams: Dimensions of team leader and member personality predicting team functioning. Evaluation and Program Planning, 31, 403-409. (PF 141 ) | |
| The predictors and correlates of positive functioning among community prevention teams have been examined in a number of research studies; however,the role of personality has been neglected. In this study, we examined whether team member and leader personality dimensions assessed at the time of team formation predicted local prevention team functioning 2.5–3.5 years later. Participants were 159 prevention team members in 14 communities participating in the PROSPER study of prevention program dissemination. Three aspects of personality, aggregated at the team level, were examined as predictors: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. A series of multivariate regression analyses were performed that accounted for the interdependency of five categories of team functioning. Results showed that average team member Openness was negatively, and Conscientiousness was positively linked to team functioning. The findings have implications for decisions about the level and nature of technical assistance support provided to community prevention teams. | |
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| Madon, S., Guyll, M., Buller, A. A., Scherr, K. C., Willard, J., & Spoth, R. (2008). The mediation of mothers’ self-fulfilling effects on their children’s alcohol use: Self-verification, informational conformity, and modeling processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 369-384. (PF 143) (PF 143) | |
| This research examined whether self-fulfilling prophecy effects are mediated by self-verification, informational conformity, and modeling processes. The authors examined these mediational processes across multiple time frames with longitudinal data obtained from two samples of mother – child dyads (N1 = 487; N2 = 288). Children’s alcohol use was the outcome variable. The results provided consistent support for the mediational process of self-verification. In both samples and across several years of adolescence, there was a significant indirect effect of mothers’ beliefs on children’s alcohol use through children’s self-assessed likelihood of drinking alcohol in the future. Comparatively less support was found for informational conformity and modeling processes as mediators of mothers’ self-fulfilling effects. The potential for self-fulfilling prophecies to produce long lasting changes in targets’ behavior via self-verification processes are discussed. | |
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| Mason, W. A., Hitchings, J. E., & Spoth, R. L. (2008). The interaction of conduct problems and depressed mood in relation to adolescent substance involvement and peer substance use. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 96, 233–248 (PF 128) | |
| Conduct problems are strong positive predictors of substance use and problem substance use among teens, whereas predictive effects of depressed mood on these outcomes are mixed. Conduct problems and depressed mood often co-occur, therefore this study examined possible interactive effects of conduct problems and depressed mood at age 11 on substance use and problem use at age 18. Analyses of multi-rater longitudinal data collected from 429 rural youths (222 girls) and their families were conducted using a methodology for testing latent variable interactions. Results showed that the effects of conduct problems on substance use varied across levels of depressed mood. Significant positive effects of conduct problems on substance use were observed only at low levels of depressed mood. | |
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| Mason, W. A., Kosterman, R., Haggerty, K. P., Hawkins, J. D., Redmond, C., Spoth, R. L., & Shin, C. (2008). Dimensions of adolescent alcohol involvement as predictors of young adult major depression. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69, 275-285. (PF 147) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Mincemoyer, C. Perkins, C., Ang, P., Greenberg, M. T., Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., & Feinberg, M. (2008). Improving the reputation of Cooperative Extension as a source of prevention education for youth and families: The effects of the PROSPER Model. Journal of Extension, 46(1) (PF 139) | |
| Using a randomized trial design, this study examined how community partnerships led by Cooperative Extension Service (CES) educators affected the reputation of the CES about provision of youth and family prevention programming. The PROSPER (PROmoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) multi-level partnership model led by CES educators is intended to build community capacity to deliver evidence-based family and youth interventions (Spoth, Greenberg, Bierman, & Redmond, 2004). The model involves local community teams that are provided with continuous, proactive technical assistance through state land-grant universities. In the current project, PROSPER’s main goals are to reduce rates of early substance use and problem behavior, as well as to promote positive youth development and family competences (Spoth et al., 2004). | |
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| Spoth, R. (2008). Translation of family-focused prevention science into public health impact: Toward a translational impact paradigm (TIP). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(6), 415-421 (PF 136) | |
| The subfield of family-focused preventive intervention science could serve as an exemplar for the translation of science into practice on a scale that achieves public health impact. This paper outlines steps in that direction, following definition of translational science and a rationale for a clear orientation in that direction. Current advances in this subfield are mapped onto a comprehensive set of factors, categorized under the “4 E” intervention impact factors—Efficacy plus effectiveness, Extent of availability, Engagement of eligible populations or organizations, and Efficiency. The paper then highlights two key tasks in progressing with translational science: improving the translational vehicle of practitioner-scientist partnership networks embedded in systems for delivery of evidence-based interventions; and application of research guidelines and standards that move toward a translational impact paradigm (TIP). | |
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| Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., & Turrisi, R. (2008). Preventive interventions addressing underage drinking: State of the evidence and steps toward public health impact. Pediatrics, 121(Supplement 4), 311-336. (PF 131) | |
| The epidemiology of underage drinking and evidence of its social, health and economic consequences suggest compelling reasons for the development and dissemination of effective preventive interventions. To clarify the nature and extent of the current evidence-base for preventive interventions addressing underage drinking, a review of the literature was conducted. It included extensive searches of the research literature on outcome evaluations, existing reviews of this body of outcome research (N = 25), and summary reports of evidence on specific interventions. Over 400 interventions were identified and screened, and the evidence for 127 was reviewed. Criteria for the evaluation of evidence were established for intervention studies with an alcohol-specific outcome measures falling into three developmental periods (under age 10, 10-15, 16-20+), in order to classify interventions with the “most promising evidence,” “mixed or emerging evidence,” and “insufficient or no evidence of effects.” Ultimately, 12 interventions met criteria for “most promising” evidence and 28 met criteria for “mixed or emerging” evidence. Conducting this review revealed clear advances in the number of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) available and the quality of outcome research; it is equally clear, however, that much work remains to be done to achieve greater public health impact through EBIs. This work should consider: (1) a great need for intervention research related to understudied developmental phases, intervention domains (e.g., family, school, community, media), and populations (e.g., early tweens, late teens and young adults not attending college, non-majority populations); (2) the critical importance of addressing key issues in research design and methodology (e.g., limited longitudinal study, replication study, dissemination research); and (3) the need for improved consistency in applied standards of evidence and reporting standards. Finally, we recommend the application of emerging consumer-oriented and community-participatory models for intervention development and research—designed to increase the likelihood of “real world” public health impact through improved translation of intervention science into practice. | |
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| Spoth, R., Randall, G. K., & Shin, C. (2008). Experimental support for a model of partnership-based family intervention effects on long-term academic success. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(1), 70-89. (PF 115) | |
| An expanding body of research suggests an important role for parent or family competency training in children’s social-emotional learning and related school success. This article summarizes a test of a longitudinal model examining partnership-based family competency training effects on academic success in a general population. Specifically, it examines indirect effects of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) on school engagement in eighth grade and academic success in the twelfth grade, through direct ISFP effects on intervention-targeted outcomes—parenting competencies and student substance-related risk—in sixth grade. Twenty-two rural schools were randomly assigned to either ISFP or a minimal-contact control group; data were collected from 445 families. Following examination of the equivalence of the measurement model across group and time, a structural equation modeling approach was used to test the hypothesized model and corresponding hypothesized structural paths. Significant effects of the ISFP were found on proximal intervention outcomes, intermediate school engagement, and the academic success of high school seniors. | |
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| Spoth, R., Randall, G. K., Trudeau, L., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2008). Substance-related outcomes of universal family-and school-based interventions 5½ years past baseline. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 96, 57-68. (PF 130) | |
| This article reports adolescent substance use outcomes of universal family and school preventive interventions 5.5 years past baseline. Participants were 1,677 seventh grade students from schools (N = 36) randomly assigned to the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14, plus the school-based Life Skills Training (SFP 10-14 + LST), LST alone, or a control condition. Self-reports were collected at baseline, six months later, following the interventions, then yearly through the twelfth grade. Measures included initiation—alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, and drunkenness, along with a substance initiation index (SII)—and measures of more serious use—frequency of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, drunkenness frequency, monthly poly-substance use, and advanced poly-substance use. Analyses ruled out differential attrition. For all substance initiation outcomes, one or both intervention groups showed significant, positive point-in-time differences at twelfth grade and/or significant growth trajectory outcomes when compared with the control group. Although no main effects for the more serious substance use outcomes were observed, a higher-risk subsample demonstrated significant, positive twelfth grade point-in-time and/or growth trajectory outcomes for one or both intervention groups on all measures. The observed pattern of results likely reflects a combination of predispositions of the higher-risk subsample, the timing of the interventions, and baseline differences between experimental conditions favoring the control group. | |
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| Spoth, R., Trudeau, L., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2008). Finding a path to more reasonable conclusions about prevention—Response to Midford. Addiction, 103, 1169–1173. (PF 148) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Spoth, R., Trudeau, T., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2008). Long-term effects of universal preventive interventions on prescription drug misuse. Addiction, 103, 1160-1168. (PF 137) | |
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Background: This is a supplemental report on tests of long-term effects of universal preventive interventions conducted during middle school on 17- to 22-year-olds’ prescription drug misuse. Design/Setting/Participants: Two randomized controlled prevention trials were conducted in public schools in the rural Midwest US. Study 1 began in 1993 with 667 6th graders; follow-ups with 12th graders and 21-year-olds included 457 and 483 participants, respectively. Study 2 began in 1998 with 7th graders (total sample across waves 2,127); follow-ups with 11th and 12th graders included 1,443 and 1,212 participants, respectively. Interventions: In Study 1, schools were assigned to the family-focused Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), Preparing for the Drug Free Years, or a control condition. In Study 2, schools were assigned to the school-based Life Skills Training plus a revised ISFP, called SFP 10-14 (LST+SFP 10-14), LST-only, or a control condition. Measurements: Self reports of lifetime and past-year prescription drug misuse. Findings: In Study 1, ISFP 12th graders’ past year narcotic misuse was significantly less than controls, as were ISFP 21-year-olds’ lifetime narcotic and barbiturate misuse rates. In Study 2, LST+SFP 10-14 showed significant effects on lifetime prescription drug misuse at the 11th grade follow-up, while effects at the 12th grade follow-up were marginally significant. Conclusions: Consistent with intervention effects on other substance use outcomes reported earlier, results suggest universal interventions have potential for public health impact by reducing some types of prescription drug misuse among adolescents and young adults. |
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| Willard, J., Madon, S., Guyll, M. & Spoth, R. (2008). Self-efficacy as a moderator of positive and negative self-fulfilling prophecy effects: Mothers’ beliefs and children’s alcohol use. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 499-520. (PF 122) | |
| This research examined whether children at risk for alcohol use were more susceptible to positive than negative self-fulfilling prophecy effects and explored mechanisms that could produce this effect. Longitudinal data from 540 mother-child dyads indicated that low self-efficacy children were more susceptible to their mothers’ positive than negative self-fulfilling effects, whereas high self-efficacy children’s susceptibility did not vary. Results also suggested that mothers' parenting practices and children's perception of their friends' alcohol use mediated mothers’ self-fulfilling effects, and that these mediators accounted for low self-efficacy children’s greater susceptibility to positive self-fulfilling prophecies. The power of self-fulfilling prophecy effects and the potential for mothers’ favorable beliefs to act as a protective factor in the prevention of adolescent alcohol use are discussed. | |
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| Chilenski, S. E., Greenberg, M. T., & Feinberg, M. E. (2007). Community readiness as a multidimensional construct. Journal of Community Psychology, 35(3), 351-369. (PF 116) | |
| Both the organizational studies literature and the community psychology literature discuss the importance of readiness when implementing change. Though each area places emphasis on different characteristics, there are several common themes present within the literature. The current study integrates and applies organizational and community psychology literature in evaluating community readiness in the context of a school-community-university collaborative prevention model. Results demonstrate (1) that there is substantial agreement between members of community prevention teams on the level of readiness of a community; (2) that readiness is a cohesive but multi-dimensional construct related to hypothesized community and individual characteristics; (3) and that there is small to moderate agreement between members of prevention teams and their “agency directors.” These results support the notion that clear “theories of change” need to be formulated before deciding how to assess community readiness, as assessments will vary due to several factors: the type of respondent, the level in which analyses are conducted, and the specific community domain (i.e. school, workplace collaboration, collaboration experience) investigated. | |
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| Feinberg, M. E., Chilenski, S. M., Greenberg, M. T., Spoth, R. L., & Redmond, C. (2007). Community and team member factors that influence the operations phase of local prevention teams: The PROSPER Project. Prevention Science, Online First, available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/104965 (PF 135) | |
| This study examined the longitudinal predictors of quality of functioning of community prevention teams during the “operations” phase of team development. The 14 community teams were involved in a randomized-trial of a university-community partnership project, PROSPER (Spoth, Greenberg, Bierman, & Redmond, 2004b), that implements evidence-based interventions intended to support positive youth development and reduce early substance use, as well as other problem behaviors. The study included a multi-informant approach to measurement of constructs, and included data from 137 team members, 59 human service agency directors and school administrators, 16 school principals, and 8 Prevention Coordinators (i.e. technical assistance providers). We examined how community demographics and social capital, team level characteristics, and team member attributes and attitudes are related to local team functioning across an 18-month period. Findings indicate that community demographics (poverty), social capital, team member attitudes towards prevention, and team members’ views of the acceptability of teen alcohol use played a substantial role in predicting various indicators of the quality of team functioning 18 months later. | |
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| Greenberg, M. T., Feinberg, M. E., Meyer-Chilenski, S., Spoth, R. L., & Redmond, C. (2007). Community and team member factors that influence the early phases of local team partnerships in prevention: The PROSPER Project. Journal of Primary Prevention, 28, 485-504. (PF 121) | |
| This research examines the early development of community teams in a specific university-community partnership project called PROSPER (Spoth, Greenberg, Redmond, & Bierman, 2004). PROSPER supports local community teams in rural areas and small towns to implement evidence-based programs intended to support positive youth development and reduce early substance use. The study evaluated 14 community teams and included longitudinal data from 108 team members. Specifically, it examined how community demographics and team member characteristics, perceptions, and attitudes at initial team formation were related to local team functioning 6 months later, when teams were planning for prevention program implementation. Findings indicate that community demographics (poverty), perceived community readiness, characteristics of local team members (previous collaborative experience) and attitudes toward prevention played a substantial role in predicting the quality of community team functioning six months later. | |
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| Mason, W. A., Hitchings, J. E., McMahon, R. J., & Spoth, R. L. (2007). A test of three alternative hypotheses regarding the effects of early delinquency on adolescent psychosocial functioning and substance involvement. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 831-843 . Online First, available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/104756 (PF 132) | |
| This study compared alternative hypotheses (derived from general deviance theories, life course theory, and developmental psychopathology) regarding the effects of early adolescent delinquency on subsequent psychosocial functioning in family, school, and peer contexts, and on alcohol use. Analyses also examined parent-child negative affective quality, prosocial school orientation, and peer substance use as possible direct predictors of problem substance use. Participants in this prospective longitudinal study, extending from age 11 to age 18, were 429 rural teens (222 girls) and their families. The primary path model comparisons supported the tenability of a partial mediation model that included both mediating pathways and a direct effect of delinquency on alcohol use, as hypothesized by a developmental psychopathology perspective. Moreover, peer substance use was a direct positive predictor of problem use. | |
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| Mason, W. A. Hitchings, J. E., & Spoth, R. (2007). Emergence of delinquency and depressed mood throughout adolescence as predictors of late adolescent problem substance use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21(1), 13-24. (PF 146) | |
| Delinquency is a positive predictor of adolescent problem substance use, and depressed mood may increase risk for substance problems. The extent to which effects of delinquency and depressed mood on problem substance use vary depending on when during adolescence the predictors are assessed is unknown. The authors used 5 multigroup path analyses to examine effects of delinquency and depressed mood at ages 11, 12, 13, 14, and 16 years on problem substance use at age 18, and mediation of those effects through alcohol use at age 16 across gender. Participants were 429 rural youths (222 girls and 207 boys) and their families. Indirect positive effects of delinquency on the outcome were observed for boys; direct positive effects of depressed mood were observed for girls. Prevention implications are discussed. | |
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| Mason, W. A., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., Spoth, R. L., & Redmond, C. (2007). Influence of a family-focused substance use preventive intervention on growth in adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17(3), 541-564. (PF 91) | |
| Preparing for the Drug-Free Years (PDFY) is a preventive intervention that targets parenting behaviors, family interaction patterns, and adolescent substance use, factors that have been shown to predict depression among teenagers. Effects of PDFY on trajectories of self-reported adolescent depressive symptoms from 6th through 12th grade were examined. Latent growth curve modeling was used to analyze data from 429 rural adolescents from schools assigned randomly to an intervention or a control condition. PDFY reduced the rate of increase in depressive symptoms during adolescence. Mediation of the intervention effect on depressive symptoms through reduced polysubstance use was tested (Mason, Kosterman, Hawkins, Haggerty, & Spoth, 2003); the indirect effect was only marginally significant. Findings have implications for understanding the relationship between adolescent depressive symptoms and substance use, and for preventing these outcomes. | |
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| Spoth, R. (2007). Opportunities to meet challenges in rural prevention research: findings from an evolving community-university partnership model. Journal of Rural Health, 23(supplemental), 42-54. (PF 125) | |
| Various rural prevention research challenges have been articulated through a series of sessions convened since the mid 1990s by the National Institutes of Health, particularly the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Salient in this articulation was the need for effective collaboration among rural practitioners and scientists, with special consideration of accommodating the diversity of rural areas and surmounting barriers to implementation of evidence-based interventions. This paper summarizes the range of challenges in rural prevention research and describes an evolving community-university partnership model addressing them. The model entails involvement of public school staff and other rural community stakeholders, linked with scientists by Land Grant University-based Extension system staff. Examples of findings from over 16 years of partnership-based intervention research projects include those on engagement of rural residents, quality implementation of evidence-based interventions, and long-term community-level outcomes, as well as factors in effectiveness of the partnerships. Findings suggest a future focus on building capacity for practitioner-scientist collaboration and developing a network for more widespread implementation of the partnership model in a manner informed by lessons learned from partnership-based research to date. | |
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| Spoth, R., Clair, S., Greenberg, M., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2007). Toward dissemination of evidence-based family interventions: Maintenance of community-based partnership recruitment results and associated factors. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(2), 137-145. (PF 113) | |
| A major challenge in the dissemination of evidence-based family interventions (EBFIs) designed to reduce youth substance use and other problem behaviors is effective and sustainable community-based recruitment. This understudied topic is addressed by a preliminary study of 14 community-university partnership teams randomly assigned to an intervention condition in which teams attempted sustained implementation of EBFIs with two cohorts of middle school families. This report describes attendance rates of recruited families maintained over time and across both cohorts, along with exploratory analyses of factors associated with those rates. When compared with community-based recruitment rates in the literature, particularly for multisession interventions, relatively high rates were observed; they averaged 17% across cohorts. Community team functioning (e.g., quality of team promotional materials) and technical assistance (TA) variables (e.g., effective collaboration with TA, frequency of TA requests) were associated with higher recruitment rates, even after controlling for community and school district contextual influences. Results support the community-university partnership model for recruitment that was implemented in the study. | |
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| Spoth, R., Guyll, M., Lillehoj, C. J., Redmond, C., & Greenberg, M. (2007). PROSPER study of evidence-based intervention implementation quality by community-university partnerships. JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Vol. 35, No. 8, 981–999. (PF 119) | |
| This study examined a community-university partnership model for sustained, high quality implementation of evidence-based interventions. In the context of a randomized study, it assessed whether implementation quality for both family-focused and school-based universal interventions could be achieved and maintained through community-university partnerships. It also conducted exploratory analyses of factors influencing implementation quality. Results revealed uniformly high rates of both implementation adherence—averaging over 90%—and of other indicators of implementation quality for both family-focused and school-based interventions. Moreover, implementation quality was sustained across two cohorts. Exploratory analyses failed to reveal any significant correlates for family intervention implementation quality, but did show that some team and instructor characteristics were associated with school-based implementation quality. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., Greenberg, M., Clair, S., & Feinberg, M. (2007). Substance use outcomes at 18 months past baseline from the PROSPER community-university partnership trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32(5), 395-402. (PF 127) | |
| Background. The study’s objective was to examine the effects of “real world,” community-based implementation of universal preventive interventions selected from a menu, including effects specific to higher- and lower-risk subsamples. Setting/Participants. The study included twenty-eight public school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania that were located in rural towns and small cities, ranging in size from 6,975 to 44,510. Sixth and seventh graders in these school districts participated in the study. Design. School districts were selected on size and location and then randomly assigned to a control condition or to an experimental condition in a cohort sequential design. Intervention. Community teams were mobilized; each team implemented one of three evidence-based, family-focused interventions (5-12 sessions) and one of three evidence-based school interventions (11-15 sessions)—for 6th and 7th graders, respectively. Observations showed interventions were implemented with fidelity. Main Outcome Measures. Outcomes included student reports of past month, past year, or lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and inhalants, as well as indices of gateway and illicit substance initiation, at pretest and at a follow-up assessment 1½ years later. Results. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated significant positive effects on substance initiation (marijuana, inhalants, methamphetamines, ecstasy, gateway index, illicit use index), as well as past year use of marijuana and inhalants, with positive trends for all substances measured. For three outcomes, intervention effects were stronger for higher-risk students than lower-risk students. Conclusions. Community-based implementation of brief universal interventions designed for general populations has potential for public health impact by reducing substance use among adolescents. | |
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| Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., Randall, G. K., & Azevedo, K. (2007). Longitudinal effects of a universal family-focused intervention on growth patterns of adolescent internalizing symptoms and polysubstance use: Gender comparisons. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36(6), 740-745. (PF 100) | |
| This study evaluated effects of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program, a family-focused universal preventive intervention, on growth patterns of adolescent internalizing (anxiety and depressive symptoms) and monthly polysubstance use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, and other illicit drugs), as well as the association between internalizing and polysubstance growth factors. The sample was sixth through twelfth grade rural Midwestern adolescents (N = 383). Compared to the control group, the intervention group adolescents showed a slower rate of increase in internalizing symptoms and polysubstance use from sixth to twelfth grade. Intervention effects on internalizing symptoms were similar for boys and girls; however, girls demonstrated a higher overall level and a greater rate of increase across time. The intervention slowed the rate of increase in polysubstance use significantly more for girls than for boys, although overall levels of use were lower in the intervention group for both genders. Associations between internalizing and polysubstance use growth factors were found for girls, but not for boys, suggesting gender differences in psychosocial development. | |
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| Abraham, W. T., Russell, D. W., Guyll, M., Trudeau, L., Lillehoj, C., & Spoth, R. (2006). School- and family-level income effects in a randomized controlled prevention trial: A multilevel analysis.In P Dolan, J Canavan, & J Pinkerton (Eds) Family Support as Reflective Practice. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. (PF 120) | |
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| Brody, G. H., Murry, V. M., Gerrard, M., Gibbons, R., McNair, L., Brown, A., Wills, T., Molgaard, V., Spoth, R., Luo, Z., & Chen, Y. (2006). The Strong African American Families Program: Prevention of youths’ high-risk behavior and a test of a model of change. Journal of Family Psychology, 20(1), 1-11. (PF 110) | |
| This study was designed to test the efficacy of the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention targeting high-risk behaviors among rural African American 11-year-olds. Prior to SAAF, no empirically based programs were available to prevent such behaviors specifically among rural African American youths. The trial, which included 332 families, indicated that families who participated in SAAF experienced increases over time in regulated, communicative parenting; increases in targeted parenting behaviors, according to youths’ reports; and low rates of high-risk behavior initiation among youths. | |
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| Jung, T. E., & Spoth, R. L. (2006). Rural youth involvement in the implementation of an evidence-based substance use preventive intervention. Rural Mental Health, 31(2), 9-18. (PF 134) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Madon, S., Willard, J., Guyll, M., Trudeau, L., & Spoth, R. (2006). Self-fulfilling prophecy effects of mothers’ beliefs on children’s alcohol use: Accumulation, dissipation, and stability over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 911-926. (PF 114) | |
| This research examined whether self-fulfilling prophecy effects accumulated, dissipated, or remained stable over time in terms of two complementary conceptual models. Analyses of longitudinal data from two samples of mother–child dyads (N1 = 487; N2 = 288) yielded three main findings. First, the degree to which mothers’ inaccurate beliefs assessed at a single point in time predicted children’s distal alcohol use did not differ from the degree to which they predicted children’s proximal alcohol use, thereby supporting a pattern of stability for the samples on average. Second, mothers’ inaccurate beliefs repeatedly assessed across time had additive self-fulfilling effects on their children’s subsequent alcohol use assessed at a single later point in time. Third, these additive self-fulfilling effects served to exacerbate differences in the alcohol use of children had been consistently exposed to unfavorable versus favorable beliefs year after year. The authors discuss these findings in terms of the link between self-fulfilling prophecies and social problems. | |
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| Perkins, D., Mincemoyer, C., & Lillehoj, C. (2006). Extension educators’ perception of community readiness, knowledge of youth prevention science, and experience with collaboration. Journal of Family and Consumer Science, 98(4), 20-26. (PF 123) | |
| This study examines Extension educators’ perception of community readiness, knowledge of prevention science, and experience with collaborations compared with the perceptions of other human service professionals in the community. The Extension educators and human service professionals interviewed in this study are participant members of community PROSPER teams. PROSPER (PROmoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) is a research initiative that links three existing infrastructure systems to provide prevention programming to youth and families – the land-grant university, the Cooperative Extension System (CES), and the public school system (for a more detailed description see Spoth, Greenberg, Bierman, & Redmond, 2004). PROSPER is based on a collaborative model for the purpose of disseminating evidence-based prevention programs to enhance youth development as well as reduce youth problem behaviors, such as substance use and violence (Spoth, et al., 2004, p. 33). To accomplish this goal, PROSPER teams select, implement, and supervise evidenced-based prevention programs (Spoth, et al., 2004). PROSPER teams also recruit youth and families into prevention programs and secure resources to ensure sustainability of programming efforts. | |
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| Scheve, J. A., Perkins, D. F., & Mincemoyer, C. C. (2006). Fostering youth engagement on community teams. Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice, 1,8 pages. Available online at: http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=d (PF 117) | |
| Within the youth development field a growing movement exists to establish youth member positions on community teams (e.g. organizational boards and planning commit tees). The involvement of youth on decision-making teams is commonly referred to as youth engagement. As a relatively new approach to youth and community development, the existing research shows the potential positive impacts youth engagement efforts may produce and encourages youth practitioners to incorporate such efforts into their programs and organizations. In doing so, successful youth engagement efforts may be sustained within teams that best adapt their organizational structure, policies, and practices to complement the developmental needs of youth. Such adaptations begin with the four team characteristics presented in this paper: adult support, a youth-friendly environment, opportunities to complete meaningful tasks, and opportunities to learn and use new skills. When these practices are woven through the work of the team, youth engagement may flourish. | |
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| Spoth, R., Clair, S., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2006). Long-term effects of universal preventive interventions on methamphetamine use among adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 160,(876-882. (PF 118) | |
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Objective. To examine the long-term effects of universal preventive interventions on general population adolescents’ methamphetamine use during their late high school years. Design. Two randomized controlled prevention trials. Setting. Public schools in the Midwest, from 1993 to 2004. Participants. Study 1 began with 667 sixth grade students from 33 rural public schools; the follow-up included 457 students. Study 2 began with 679 seventh grade students from 36 rural public schools; the follow-up assessment included 597 students. Interventions. In Study 1, schools were assigned to the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), Preparing for the Drug Free Years, or a control condition. In Study 2, schools were assigned to a revised ISFP (SFP 10-14) plus Life Skills Training (SPF 10-14 + LST), LST alone, or a control condition. Outcome measures. Self reports of lifetime and past-year methamphetamine use. Follow up data were collected at 6½ years past baseline (Study 1) and at 4½ and 5½ years past baseline (Study 2). Results. In Study 1, the ISFP past year rate was 0.0%, compared with 3.2% in the control condition (p = .035). In Study 2, SFP 10-14 + LST showed significant effects on lifetime and past-year use at the 4½ year follow-up (e.g., 0.5% lifetime use in the intervention condition vs. 5.2% in the control condition, p = .006); both SFP 10-14 + LST and LST alone had significant lifetime use effects at the 5½ year follow-up. Conclusions. Brief universal interventions have potential for public health impact by reducing methamphetamine use among adolescents. |
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| Spoth, R., Neppl, T., Goldberg-Lillehoj, C., Jung, T., & Ramisetty-Mikler, S. (2006). Gender-related quality of parent-child interactions and early adolescent problem behaviors: Exploratory study with midwestern samples. Journal of Family Issues, 27(6), 826-849. (PF 59) | |
| This paper reports two studies testing a model guided by a social interactional perspective, positing an inverse relation between the quality of parent-child interactions and adolescent problem behaviors. It addresses mixed findings in the literature related to gender differences and employs a sample of adolescents residing in the Midwest. Study 1 used cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 712 parents with either a boy (n = 377) or a girl (n = 335) between 11 and 13 years of age. Study 2 data, used to replicate the Study 1 results, were collected from a cross-sectional survey sample of 548 parents with either a boy (n = 279) or a girl (n = 269) in the same age group. Multisample latent variable structural equation modeling confirmed the hypothesized inverse relation between the quality of parent-child interactions and adolescent problem behaviors, in both studies. Also, there was no significant gender difference in the strength of the relationship between parent-child interaction quality and problem behaviors. The consistency of findings from both studies is discussed with respect to results from earlier research with comparable samples and measurement. | |
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| Spoth, R., Shin, C., Guyll, M., Redmond, C., & Azevedo, K. (2006). Universality of effects: An examination of the comparability of long-term family intervention effects on substance use across risk-related subgroups. Prevention Science, 7,(209-224. (PF 96) | |
| This study extends earlier investigation of family risk-related moderation of two brief, family-focused preventive interventions. It examines effects on the trajectories of substance initiation over a period of six years after a pretest assessment, evaluating whether effects were comparable across higher- and lower-risk subgroups. The two interventions, designed for general-population families of adolescents, were the seven-session Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) and the five-session Preparing for the Drug Free Years program (PDFY). Thirty-three rural public schools were randomly assigned to either the ISFP, the PDFY, or a minimal contact control condition. Curvilinear growth curve analyses were used to evaluate the universality of intervention effectiveness by testing for risk moderation of intervention effects on school-level substance use trajectories of initiation of alcohol and illicit substance use. Results were most consistent with the interpretation that both interventions provided comparable benefits for both outcome measures regardless of family risk status. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for implementing universal preventive interventions in general populations. | |
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| Annenberg Commission on Adolescent Substance Abuse (2005). Prevention of substance abuse disorders.Chapter by prevention workgroup including R Spoth, in Evans et al(Eds) Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: What we know and what we don’t know (pp. 411-426). New York: Oxford University Press, The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunn (PF 107) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Lillehoj (Goldberg), C. J., Spoth, R., & Trudeau, L. (2005). Assertiveness among young rural adolescents: Relationship to alcohol use. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 14(3), 39-63. (PF 81) | |
| There is evidence of higher prevalence rates for alcohol use among rural adolescents relative to urban adolescents. Strategies aimed at preventing adolescent alcohol use typically include the development of social skills to resist peer pressure; among the social skills frequently targeted is assertiveness. Self-report data were collected from a sample of rural adolescents (N = 493) participating in a longitudinal preventive intervention study. Five hypothesized dimensions of assertiveness were validated with Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Specific Substance Refusal, Individual Rights, Transaction, Justice, and Social Approach. Using gender as a between-subjects factor, plus time and assertiveness as within-subjects factors to predict an alcohol use composite index, repeated measures analyses revealed a number of significant findings. Significant three-way interaction effects (gender x time x assertiveness dimension) were found for Transaction, Social Approach, and Specific Substance Refusal Assertiveness. In particular, for females, but not for males, there was a significant interaction between time and Transaction Assertiveness; for males, but not for females, there was a significant interaction between time and Social Approach Assertiveness. However, both for males and for females, there was a significant interaction effect between time and Specific Substance Refusal Assertiveness. Findings support the idea of including multidimensional assertiveness skill development as a component of preventive interventions, particularly for rural adolescents. | |
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| Lillehoj, C. J., Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., & Madon, S. (2005). Externalizing behaviors as predictors of substance initiation trajectories among rural adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37,(493-501. (PF 97) | |
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Purpose The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of externalizing behaviors on substance initiation trajectories among rural adolescents across a 42-month time period. Methods Data were obtained from 198 rural adolescents (105 boys and 93 girls) who were participating in a longitudinal study. At the baseline assessment, subjects were an average of 12.3 years of age. Results Controlling for gender, higher baseline levels of externalizing were associated with a greater number of substances initiated across time. The initiation trajectory was curvilinear. Girls, compared with boys, reported a lower number of substances initiated at baseline, a greater linear growth-trajectory, and a deceleration of growth over time. Conclusions The influence of adolescent externalizing behaviors on baseline levels and growth-trajectories of substance initiation and the utility of latent growth curve modeling in the study of longitudinal change are discussed. |
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| Lillehoj, C. J., Trudeau, L., & Spoth, R. (2005). Longitudinal modeling of adolescent normative beliefs and substance initiation. Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education, 49(2), 7-41. (PF 83) | |
| The current study investigated the effects of baseline levels of academic achievement and longitudinal trends in normative beliefs on adolescent substance initiation across a 42-month time period. Participants were 272 rural adolescents who were an average of 12.3 years old at the baseline assessment. Academic achievement positively predicted the intercept and negatively predicted the growth-trajectory of normative beliefs regarding peer substance behavior. Further, baseline academic achievement negatively predicted initial levels, as well as the growth-trajectory, of substance initiation. The discussion addresses the influence of academic achievement and normative beliefs on substance initiation and the utility of latent growth curve modeling in studying longitudinal change. In addition, implications for prevention programming are discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R. L., & Greenberg, M. T. (2005). Toward a comprehensive strategy for effective practitioner-scientist partnerships and larger-scale community benefits. American Journal of Community Psychology, 35(3/4), 107-126. (PF 76) | |
| This article articulates joint priorities for the fields of prevention science and community psychology. These priorities are intended to address issues raised by the frequent observation of natural tensions between community practitioners and scientists. The first priority is to expand the knowledge base on practitioner-scientist partnerships, particularly on factors associated with positive outcomes within communities. To further articulate this priority, the paper first discusses the rapid growth in community-based partnerships and the emergent research on them. Next described is an illustrative research project on a partnership model that links state university extension and public school delivery systems. The article then turns to the second, related priority of future capacity-building for diffusion of effective partnership-based interventions to achieve larger-scale benefits across communities. It outlines two salient tasks: clarification of a conceptual framework and the formulation of a comprehensive capacity-building strategy for diffusion. The comprehensive strategy would require careful attention to the expansion of networks of effective partnerships, partnership-based research agendas, and requisite policy making. | |
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| Spoth, R., Randall, G. K., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2005). Randomized study of combined universal family and school preventive interventions: Patterns of long-term effects on initiation, regular use, and weekly drunkenness. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19(4), 372-381. (PF 106) | |
| This study reports findings on a combined family and school-based competency-training intervention from an in-school assessment 2½ years past baseline, as a follow-up to an earlier study of substance initiation. Increased rates of observed alcohol use and an additional wave of data allowed evaluation of regular alcohol use and weekly drunkenness, with both point-in-time and growth curve analyses. Thirty-six rural schools were randomly assigned to (a) a combined family and school intervention condition, (b) a school-only condition, or (c) a control condition. The earlier significant outcome on a substance initiation index was replicated and positive point-in-time results for weekly drunkenness were observed, but there were no statistically significant outcomes for regular alcohol use. Discussion focuses on factors relevant to the mix of significant longitudinal results within a consistent general pattern of positive intervention-control differences. | |
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| Brody, G. H., Murry, V. M., Gerrard, M., Gibbons, F. X., Molgaard, V., McNair, L., Brown, A. C., Wills, T. A., Spoth, R. L., Luo, Z., Chen, Y., & Neubaum-Carlan, E. (2004). The Strong African American Families Program: Translating research into prevention programming. Child Development, 75(3), 900-917. (PF 102) | |
| A randomized prevention trial contrasted families who took part in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), a preventive intervention for rural African American mothers and their 11-year-olds, with control families. SAAF is based on a contextual model positing that regulated, communicative parenting causes changes in factors protecting youths from early alcohol use and sexual activity. Parenting variables included involvement-vigilance, racial socialization, communication about sex, and clear expectations for alcohol use. Youth protective factors included negative attitudes about early alcohol use and sexual activity, negative images of drinking youths, resistance efficacy, a goal-directed future orientation, and acceptance of parental influence. Intervention-induced changes in parenting mediated the effect of intervention group influences on changes in protective factors over a 7-month period. | |
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| Guyll, M., Spoth, R., Chao, W., Wickrama, K., & Russell, D. (2004). Family-focused preventive interventions: Evaluating parental risk moderation of substance use trajectories. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 293-301. (PF 60) | |
| Four-years of longitudinal data from 373 families participating in a randomized intervention-control clinical trial were used to examine whether intervention effects on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use trajectories were moderated by family risk, as defined by parental social-emotional maladjustment. Consistent with earlier outcome evaluations based on analyses of covariance, analyses confirmed that both the Preparing for the Drug-Free Years program and the Iowa Strengthening Families Program favorably influenced alcohol use index trajectories across the time frame of the study; only the later program, however, evidenced positive effects on a tobacco use index. Concerning the primary research question, analyses provided no support for family risk moderation of any intervention effect. Findings indicate the feasibility of developing universal preventive interventions that offer comparable benefits to all families. | |
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| Kosterman, R., Haggerty, K. P., Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2004). Unique influence of mothers and fathers on their children's antisocial behavior. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(3), 762-778. (PF 39) | |
| The social development model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996) was adapted to examine the unique influence of mothers and fathers on their children’s antisocial behavior. Analyses examined 325 families with sixth grade children. Structural equation modeling was used to assess unique influences of constructs specific to mothers or fathers. Multiple-group comparisons were conducted to identify differences in the relationships between constructs for daughters versus sons. Results suggested that, while the relationships were often similar for both parents and for both daughters and sons, mothers and fathers uniquely influenced their child’s antisocial behavior depending on the child’s gender. Overall, cross-gender influence appeared to be particularly important for fathers’ control of their daughters’ antisocial behavior. Implications for the prevention of antisocial behavior are discussed. | |
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| Lillehoj Goldberg), C. J., Griffin, K. W, & Spoth, R. (2004). Program provider and observer ratings of school-based preventive intervention implementation: Agreement and relation to youth outcomes. Health Education and Behavior, 31(2), 242-257. (PF 82) | |
| Few studies have examined the degree to which different measures of implementation adherence predict adolescent outcomes. In the present study, the association between program provider self-reported ratings and trained independent observers ratings of program adherence and outcomes (i.e., substance use knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs concerning normative behavior) are examined among rural Midwestern adolescents participating in a longitudinal preventive intervention study. In addition, the study evaluated the relationship between both of these adherence measures. Results indicated that while classroom teachers tended to report higher implementation adherence scores than independent observers, most scores were significantly correlated across raters. Observer-reported adherence assessments significantly predicted several adolescent outcomes, although implementer-reported assessments did not. In addition, characteristics of the program implementer (i.e., classroom teacher) predicted several adolescent outcomes. Findings suggest that there may be a social desirability bias in implementer-reported assessments of adherence and that caution must be used when interpreting self-reported assessments of implementation adherence. | |
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| Lillehoj, C. J., Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., & Wickrama K. A. S. (2004). Internalizing, social competence, and substance initiation: Influence of gender moderation and a preventive intervention. Substance Use and Misuse, 39(6), 963-991. (PF 95) | |
| Using latent growth curve modeling, the current study investigated gender moderation of the longitudinal pathways from internalizing to both social competency (i.e., social assertiveness) and the initiation of substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, marijuana), as well as the effect of a preventive intervention on that process. Rural Midwestern adolescents who were participating in a school-based preventive intervention study were an average of 12.3 years old at the pretest assessment conducted in 1998. A latent growth curve comparison analysis found that internalizing was related inversely to initial levels of social assertiveness skill among girls; further, internalizing was related positively to substance initiation growth-trajectories among girls. Girls who participated in the preventive intervention demonstrated a slower increase over time in substance initiation. Gender moderation of the impact of internalizing and social assertiveness on substance initiation and response to the intervention, as well as the utility of latent growth curve modeling in the study of longitudinal change, are discussed. | |
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| Madon, S., Guyll, M., & Spoth, R. L. (2004). The self-fulfilling prophecy as an intra-family dynamic. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(3), 459-469. (PF 101) | |
| This research examined whether parents' and children's perceptions of one another have reciprocal self-fulfilling prophecy effects on each others' behavior. Mothers, fathers, and their adolescent children completed self-report surveys and engaged in videotaped dyadic interaction tasks. The surveys assessed parents' and children's perceptions of their own and the other's typical hostility and warmth. Observers coded the videotaped interactions to assess the actual hostility and warmth exhibited by mothers, fathers, and children. Data from 658 mother-child dyads were consistent with the conclusion that children had a self-fulfilling effect on their mothers' hostile behavior, but that mothers did not have a reciprocal self-fulfilling effect on their children's hostility. The data did not support the existence of self-fulfilling prophecies among the mother-child dyads with respect to warmth-relevant data, nor among the 576 father-child dyads for either the hostility- or warmth-relevant data. These findings are discussed in terms of family relations and the differential power of negative vs. positive self-fulfilling prophecies. | |
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| Madon, S., Guyll, M., Spoth, R., & Willard, J. (2004). Self-fulfilling prophecies: The synergistic accumulation of parents' beliefs on children's drinking behavior. Psychological Science, 15,(837-845. (PF 105) | |
| This research examined whether mothers' and fathers' beliefs about their children's alcohol use had cumulative self-fulfilling effects on their children's future drinking behavior. Analyses of longitudinal data acquired from 115 mothers, fathers, and their seventh-grade children were consistent with synergistic accumulation effects for negative beliefs. Parents' beliefs predicted the greatest degree of confirmatory behavior from children when both mothers and fathers overestimated their children's alcohol use. Results did not support synergistic accumulation effects for positive beliefs. Predicted increases in children's future alcohol use were similar regardless of whether one parent or both underestimated their children's alcohol use. These findings suggest that the generally small self-fulfilling effects reported in the literature may underestimate the power of negative self-fulfilling prophecies to harm targets because they do not take into consideration the possibility that negative self-fulfilling prophecies may be more likely than positive ones to accumulate across multiple perceivers. | |
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| Meek, J., Lillehoj, C. J., Welsh, J., & Spoth, R. (2004). Rural community partnership recruitment for an evidence-based family-focused prevention program: The PROSPER project. Rural Mental Health, 29(2), 23-28. (PF 111) | |
| There are several reasons to promote the implementation of evidence-based family-focused interventions in rural, small town or micropolitan communities. One key reason is research demonstrating that youth problem behaviors are especially prevalent in rural areas and that these problems can be effectively reduced though family-focused programs. For example, studies have found that rural youth are involved in tobacco, alcohol, and illegal substance use at rates that often exceed those of youth living in urban and suburban communities (America’s Children, 2000—Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 2000; National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1997; Johnston, O’Malley, & Bachman, 2000, 2002). Further, earlier program evaluation research has demonstrated the effectiveness of several evidence-based family-focused programs among rural youth, including the reduction of substance use (e.g., Spoth & Redmond, 2000, 2002; Spoth, Redmond, & Shin, 1998, 2000, 2001); related economic analyses also have shown that these programs are cost-beneficial (Spoth, Guyll, & Day, 2002). These programs focus on the enhancement of competencies related to reducing risk and increasing protective factors among families and youth. | |
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| Mincemoyer, C. C., Perkins, D. F., & Lillehoj, C. (2004). Perceptions of the Cooperative Extension Service: A community resource for youth and family programs. Journal of Extension, 42,(1-11. Available online at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2004october/a5.shtml (PF 109) | |
| PROSPER; (PROmotingSchool-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) is a prevention partnership involving the Cooperative Extension Service (CES), local schools, and community agencies. PROSPER collaborative teams were formed in 14 communities in Iowa and 14 in Pennsylvania to address risk reduction, competence-building, and positive youth development. This study examined perceptions of CES personnel compared to other PROSPER team members regarding the CES: as a source of youth and family programming; commitment to fostering school and community-based prevention programs; and as a leading force in improving the lives of youth and families. | |
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| Muñoz, E. A., Lillehoj Goldberg, C., & Dettman, M. A. (2004). Substance use prevention: An Iowa Mexican im/migrant family perspective.In W R Palacios & P F Comwell (Eds), Cocktails and dreams: An interpretive perspective on drug abuse. (pp. 341-355). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. (PF 85) | |
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The present study addresses the need for more culturally-relative research as well as prevention programs to meet the needs of a growing Latino population in the U.S. Since broad cultural generalizations may overlook variances within the Latino culture, the authors suggest that selective and/or indicated substance use prevention programs may be more suitable than universal substance use prevention programs for this population. Investigators specializing in the delivery of substance use prevention programs recruited parents and children from the community to help determine if substance use prevention programs were needed among this underserved population, and if so, what would be the best method of delivery. The researchers employed youth and adult focus groups, consisting of tape-recorded group interviews of 6-12 participants engaged in discussions on a particular topic. Results showed that both parents and youth indicated their awareness of the deleterious effects of substance abuse and showed perceived need and favorable attitude towards substance use prevention programs. While universal school-based programs were considered to be helpful, the data pointed to the added benefits of a supplementary culturally-specific family-based program to Mexican im/migrant families struggling with dissonant acculturation. |
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| Redmond, C., Spoth, R., Shin, C., & Hill, G. (2004). Engaging rural parents in family-focused programs to prevent youth substance abuse. Journal of Primary Prevention, 24(3), 223-242. (PF 46) | |
| Using data collected during telephone interviews with 1,156 parents of sixth graders from 36 rural schools, multilevel structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationships of family sociodemographic factors, parental health beliefs' perceptions of their child's susceptibility to future substance use involvement, parents' perceptions of their ability to prevent such problems, and the perceived benefits of family-skills programs designed to prevent adolescent problems. Family-level findings showed parent gender and marital status to be particularly important; each exhibited direct effects on each of the three parent perceptions examined. Findings also supported the hypotheses that efficacy perceptions inversely affect perceptions of child susceptibility and that perceptions of child susceptibility positively affect perceived program benefits. At the community level, lower household incomes were associated with higher levels of perceived child susceptibility to substance use. | |
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| Spoth, R., Greenberg, M., Bierman, K., & Redmond, C. (2004). PROSPER Community-university partnership model for public education systems: Capacity-building for evidence-based, competence-building prevention. Prevention Science (Invited article for Special issue), 5(1), 31-39. (PF 103) | |
| This paper presents a model to guide capacity building in state public education systems for delivery of evidence-based family and youth interventions— interventions that are designed to bolster youth competencies, learning, and positive development overall. Central to this effort is a linking capacity agents framework that builds upon longstanding state public education infrastructures, and a partnership model called PROSPER or PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience. The paper presents an overview of the evolving partnership model and summarizes positive results of its implementation over a 12-year period in an ongoing project. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., & Azevedo, K. (2004). Brief family intervention effects on adolescent substance initiation: School-level curvilinear growth curve analyses six years following baseline. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(3), 535-542. (PF 86) | |
| This study examines the effects of two brief family-focused interventions on the trajectories of substance initiation over a period of six years following a baseline assessment. The two interventions, designed for general-population families of adolescents, were the seven-session Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) and the five-session Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program (PDFY). Thirty-three rural public schools were randomly assigned to the ISFP, the PDFY, or to a minimal contact control condition. Curvilinear growth observed in school-level measures of initiation was evaluated using a logistic growth curve analysis. Alcohol and tobacco composite use indices, as well as lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, and lifetime drunkenness were examined. Significant intervention-control differences were observed, indicating favorable delays in initiation in the intervention groups. | |
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| Epstein, J. A., Botvin, G. J., & Spoth, R. (2003). Predicting smoking among rural adolescents: Social and cognitive processes. Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 5(4), 485-491. (PF 71) | |
| Although there is considerable literature concerning the etiology of cigarette smoking, a major gap exists pertaining to predictors of adolescent smoking for rural populations in the United States. To address this gap in the literature, this study focused on rural adolescents and investigated a model of social and cognitive cross-sectional predictors of smoking. Gender-specific differences in etiology were examined by testing the same model separately for boys and girls. Seventh graders (N=1673) residing in northern and eastern Iowa self-reported smoking, peer smoking norms, adult smoking norms, drug refusal assertiveness, drug refusal techniques, life skills, pro-smoking attitudes, risk-taking tendency, and family management practices. Data were collected during a class period in 36 junior high schools. Peer smoking norms, adult smoking norms, drug refusal assertiveness,drug refusal techniques, pro-smoking attitudes and risk-taking tendency all were associated cross-sectionally with smoking. As for gender-specific effects, family management skills, life skills, and risk-taking tendency were concurrently related to smoking for girls only. Based on the results and prevention research, it would appear that smoking prevention programs for rural adolescents would benefit from incorporating normative education, drug refusal training, parent skills, training, and competence enhancement skills training. | |
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| Epstein, J. A., Botvin, G. J., & Spoth, R. (2003). Which psychosocial factors are related to drinking among rural adolescents? . Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 13(1), 19-35. (PF 70) | |
| This study examined the relationship of psychosocial factors with alcohol use for adolescents residing in rural Iowa. This association was also tested separately for boys and girls. Seventh grades (N=1673) self-reported alcohol use, peer drinking norms, adult drinking norms, drug refusal assertiveness, drug refusal techniques, life skills, pro-drinking attitudes, risk-taking tendency, and perceived family management practices. Data were collected during a 45-minute class period. Multiple regressions indicated that: peer drinking norms, drug refusal assertiveness, drug refusal techniques, life skills, pro-drinking attitudes and risk-taking tendency were related to drinking measures. Perceived family management skills and drug refusal techniques were associated with drinking for girls, but not boys. Risk-taking tendency was related to drinking for boys, but not girls. | |
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| Guyll, M., Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2003). The effects of incentives and research requirements on participation rates for a community-based preventive intervention research study. Journal of Primary Prevention, 24(1), 25-41. (PF 73) | |
| This investigation utilized prospective survey data to examine the influence of a research incentive ($100) and requirement (videotaping) on decisions to participate in prevention research. Individuals were significantly attracted by the incentive, and marginally deterred by the requirement. Interaction analyses revealed that the positive incentive effect was stronger among prospective participants with less education and who were otherwise less likely to participate. These findings indicate that monetary incentives can be useful for increasing participation rates, and may help reduce sampling bias by increasing rates most strongly among individuals who are typically less likely to take part in research projects. | |
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| Madon, S., Guyll, M., Spoth R., Cross, S., & Hilbert, S. (2003). The self-fulfilling influence of mother expectations on children's underage drinking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1188-1205. (PF 80) | |
| This research examined whether mothers’ expectations about their children’s drinking behavior influenced their children’s future alcohol use through self-fulfilling prophecies. This research also investigated whether children’s self-esteem, family social class, or the valence of mother expectations moderated this process. Analyses of longitudinal data from 505 mothers and their adolescent children yielded results that were consistent with a self-fulfilling prophecy. The inaccurate portion of mother expectations predicted children’s future alcohol use after accounting for a broad range of relevant control variables. Although the magnitude of the self-fulfilling prophecy effect was small, it was nearly equal in size the accuracy-based portion of the relationship between mother expectations and children’s future alcohol use, which is proportionately larger than is typically found in the literature. Moderation analyses indicated that self-fulfilling prophecy effects were stronger among higher self-esteem children and when mother expectations were positively valenced (i.e., when mothers underestimated their children’s future alcohol use). The ability of mother expectations to predict children’s future alcohol use did not vary as a function of family social class. These findings are discussed in terms of parent-child relationship quality, peer influences, self theories, and out group stereotypes. | |
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| Mason, W. A, Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., & Spoth, R. L. (2003). Reducing adolescents' growth in substance use and delinquency: Randomized trial effects of a parent-training prevention intervention. Prevention Science, 4(3), 203-212. (PF 88) | |
| The relationship between growth in adolescent substance use and delinquency was examined in a longitudinal, randomized controlled study of the Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program (PDFY), a universal family-focused prevention intervention. Latent growth curve modeling was used to analyze 5 waves of data collected from 429 rural adolescents. Results showed that adolescents assigned to the PDFY intervention condition had a slower rate of linear increase over time in both substance use and delinquency compared with adolescents assigned to the control condition. Moreover, pretest level of delinquency was a reliable, positive predictor of growth in substance use, whereas pretest level of substance use did not predict growth in delinquency. | |
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| Melby, J. N., Hoyt, W. T., & Bryant, C. M. (2003). A generalizability approach to assessing the effects of ethnicity and training on observer ratings of family interactions. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20(2), 171-191. (PF 68) | |
| This exploratory investigation illustrates the utility of generalizability analyses for investigating race of coder and race of family member (“target”) as moderators of bias in observer ratings of family interaction processes. Thirty behavioral scales were rated on 3 occasions during an initial 5-week (100 hour) training period. African American and European American coders observed videotaped interactions occurring in one African American and one European American parent-child dyad. For each scale, levels of rater bias and rater agreement were examined over time. Although most scales showed decreasing levels of bias with training (as expected), some did not. For scales showing a main effect for coder race, European American coders rated targets more favorably than did African American coders. For scales susceptible to coder race by target race interactions, coders tended to favor other-race rather than same-race targets. Suggestions for applying the generalizability approach in future family interaction research are presented. | |
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| Spoth, R. (2003). A framework for building community-partnership capacity to promote youth development and prevent substance-related problems: Practitioner and scientist tasks, resources and issues.Unpublished chapter draft for Annenberg Adolescent Mental Health Commission (PF 104) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Spoth, R., Guyll, M., Chao, W., & Molgaard, V. (2003). Exploratory study of a preventive intervention with general population African American families. Journal of Early Adolescence, 23(4), 435-468. (PF 61) | |
| We report the intervention implementation and outcome evaluation of the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14), involving a sample of African American families with young adolescents. Implementation feasibility clearly was demonstrated. A sufficient number of families was recruited successfully, retention rates were strong, and observer ratings showed high adherence to the intervention protocol. Control group comparisons at posttest showed positive results for intervention-targeted child behaviors and for child participation in family meetings but not for other outcome measures. Findings of the investigation are discussed in terms of their relevance to ongoing intervention research with minority populations and considered in light of study limitations. | |
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| Trudeau, L., Lillehoj, C. J., Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2003). The role of assertiveness and decision making in early adolescent substance initiation: Mediating processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 13(3), 301-328. (PF 74) | |
| This study examined the mediating processes linking assertiveness and decision-making to early adolescent substance initiation and the moderating effect of gender on those processes. Models specifying negative expectancies and refusal intentions as mediators of individual rights assertiveness and decision-making effects on substance initiation were evaluated across an eighteen month time period on a non-treatment cohort of young adolescents participating in a prevention trial (average age 12.3 years at baseline; N=357). Results indicated that individual rights assertiveness and decision-making had indirect effects on substance initiation through effects on negative outcome expectancies and refusal intentions. Gender differences were found in both the average level and the pattern of relationships among the variables. For girls, refusal intentions were negatively associated with later substance initiation. For boys, early levels of substance initiation were negatively associated with later levels of negative expectancies and refusal intentions. Implications for prevention programming are discussed. | |
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| Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., Lillehoj, C., Redmond, C., & Wickrama, K. A. S. (2003). Effects of a preventive intervention on adolescent substance use initiation, expectancies, and refusal intentions. Prevention Science, 4(2), 109-122. (PF 84) | |
| This study evaluated the effects of a school-based preventive intervention (Botvin, G. J. (1996). Life Skills Training: Promoting health and personal development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Health Press; Botvin, G. J. (2002). Life skills training. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Health Press) on growth trajectories of substance initiation (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana), expectancies, and refusal intentions. A rural Midwestern sample (N = 847) provided three waves of data from middle school students. Growth curve analyses demonstrated that the intervention significantly slowed the rate of increase in substance initiation and significantly slowed the rate of decrease in refusal intentions. The intervention also slowed the rate of decrease in negative outcome expectancies, although the significance level was only marginal. A multiple group comparison showed that the impact of initial levels of substance initiation on growth trajectories of refusal intentions differed between conditions, suggesting that the intervention decreased the effect of early substance initiation on the rate of change over time for refusal intentions. Gender differences also were found, although the intervention was effective in slowing the rate of increase in initiation for both genders. | |
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| Lillehoj, C. J., Spoth, R., & Trudeau, L. (2002). Rural teacher training. The Rural Educator, 24(1), 3-12. (PF 66) | |
| Rural, middle school teachers implemented an empirically-supported, school-based preventive intervention designed to reduce student substance use and other problem behaviors. Prior to implementation, teachers were trained in program content and delivery, including interactive teaching methods. The teacher training model, as well as classroom implementation, focused on a teacher-student interactive process, in an attempt to engage students in the intervention. This paper describes the application of the training model in rural schools, along with the teacher evaluation of the model and the implementation process. Results showed that teachers were confident about their ability to deliver the program both following training and following implementation. Teachers reported they made some program modifications and expressed some concerns about time management and student indifference to program activities. Implications for quality implementation of preventive interventions in rural schools are discussed. | |
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| Muñoz, E. A., Lillehoj Goldberg, C., & Vargas-Chanes, D. (2002). Iowa Mexican immigrant families: Negotiating an optimal level of cultural assimilation.In G García & J García (Eds), The Illusions of borders: The national presence of Mexicanos in the United States. (pp. 59-79). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. (PF 79) | |
| The growing body of research on developing Latino im/migrant communities in the Midwestern United States has yet to adequately address how assimilation processes affect Latino family interaction and subsequent family outcomes. Separate focus group interviews with im/migrant Latino/a parents and second-generation middle school Latino/a students residing in a non-metropolitan area in Iowa were conducted in order to assess the rate and level of cultural assimilation, and to determine if generational differences existed in attitudes towards acculturation. Although a strong retention of traditional Mexican cultural values and practices existed among both parents and children, linguistic assimilation is highly evident among children of immigrant parents. There was little generational conflict in attitudes towards acculturation, but parents’ voiced concern about the undermining influence that American cultural assimilation has on their parental authority. Finally, parents and youth viewed biculturalism most favorably with comments suggesting its preventative capacity against negative mental health and family outcomes. Potential research questions and appropriate research designs are elaborated on from the data. | |
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| Redmond, C., Spoth, R., & Trudeau, L. (2002). Family- and community-level predictors of parent support seeking. Journal of Community Psychology, 30(2), 153-171. (PF 38) | |
| Although there is a substantial body of literature that indicates parenting practices can play a significant role in the prevention of adolescent problem behaviors, there has been limited research concerning the effects of sociodemographic factors on parents' efforts to seek help in improving parenting or addressing parenting concerns. Regression models incorporating two socioeconomic variables and four family structure or composition variables were tested, employing data from 1,192 parents who resided in rural communities. Results showed that educational attainment and parent gender were significant predictors of both formal and informal types of help seeking; also, marital status and number of children were predictors of informal help seeking. | |
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| Scaramella, L. V., Conger, R. D., Spoth, R., & Simons, R. L. (2002). Evaluation of a social contextual model of delinquency: A cross-study replication. Child Development, 73(1), 175-195. (PF 40) | |
| The present study empirically examined three theoretical approaches designed to predict risk for delinquency during adolescence: an individual difference perspective, a social interactional model, and a social contextual approach. Hypotheses derived from each perspective were tested using two independent samples of early adolescents followed over a four-year period. 667 children, in sixth grade at time 1, and their parents comprised the first sample (Project Family, PF) and 451 children, in seventh grade at time 1, their parents and a close-aged sibling made up the second sample (Iowa Youth and families Project, IYFP). Results from a series of structural equation models suggested that a social contextual approach provided the best fit with the data across both samples and genders. Consistent with the social contextual approach, results indicated that a lack of nurturant and involved parenting indirectly predicted delinquency by increasing children's earlier antisocial behavior and deviant peer relationships; child antisocial behavior also predicted similar decreases in nurturant parenting over time. Both child antisocial behavior and deviant peer affiliations at time 2 predicted delinquency one year later. Implications for theoretical development and future research priorities are discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R., Guyll, M., & Day, S. X. (2002). Universal family-focused interventions in alcohol-use disorder prevention: Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses of two interventions. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 63(2), 219-228. (PF 58) | |
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Objective. Epidemiologic research suggests that significant public health benefits could accrue from preventive interventions that delay the initiation of youth alcohol use. This analysis compares the cost-effectiveness of two interventions designed for general population families of adolescents; it also conservatively estimates their benefit-cost ratios and net benefits. Method. Cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses were performed on data from a longitudinal, prevention trial with families of sixth graders from 33 rural schools in a Midwestern state. Schools were blocked on size and proportion of lower income families and then randomly assigned either to one of two interventions or to a control condition. Interventions included the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), a seven-session intervention with parents and students together, and Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY), a five-session intervention focusing primarily on parents. Results. Conservative estimates for the ISFP intervention were a cost-effectiveness figure of $12,459 per case prevented, a benefit-cost ratio of $9.60 per $1 invested, and a net benefit of $5923 per family. For PDFY, estimates were a cost-effectiveness of $20,439 per case prevented, a benefit-cost ratio of $5.85 per $1 invested, and a net benefit of $2697 per family. Conclusions. Family skills-training interventions designed for general populations have the potential to delay the onset of alcohol use, and thereby may avoid substantial costs to society at a proportionally small intervention cost. Economic analysis of such interventions is a largely unexplored area which could provide valuable guidance in forming public policy. Supplemental detail on benefit-cost calculations (PDF 166Kb) |
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| Spoth, R., Guyll, M., Trudeau, L., & Goldberg-Lillehoj, C. (2002). Two studies of proximal outcomes and implementation quality of universal preventive interventions in a community-university collaboration context. Journal of Community Psychology, 30(5), 499-518. (PF 64) | |
| This article presents results from two longitudinal studies of competency-training interventions that entailed community-university collaboration intended to enhance implementation quality. In Study 1, 22 rural schools were randomly assigned to a family-focused intervention or a minimal contact control group. In Study 2, 36 rural schools were randomly assigned to a family-focused preventive intervention combined with a school-based intervention, the school-based intervention alone, or a minimal contact control group. In both studies, observers rated adherence to intervention protocols. Results showed that, on average, high levels of observer-rated adherence were attained in both studies. Analyses of the relationship between observer-rated adherence scores and proximal outcomes showed limited evidence of poorer outcomes associated with lower-adherence groups. Overall, findings highlight the benefits of community-university collaboration intended to facilitate high levels of intervention adherence. The need for a framework guiding a collaborative implementation research agenda is discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R. L., Kavanagh, K., & Dishion, T. (2002). Family-centered preventive intervention science: Toward benefits to larger populations of children, youth, and families. Prevention Science, 3(3), 145-152. (PF 87) | |
| The field of family-centered preventive intervention science is well poised to seize an opportunity for larger-scale intervention implementation and greater public health impact. This opportunity has been created by earlier research in the areas of epidemiology, developmental etiology, and intervention outcome research. Both earlier and current research define a number of key tasks required to meet the many challenges involved in scaling-up for greater impact. Illustrations of how these tasks can be addressed are provided in articles on programs of family-centered research with infants, children, and adolescents. Each article in this special issue treats one or more tasks that concern (a) expansion of the set of rigorously evaluated, theory-driven interventions that have potential to reach large numbers of children, youth, and families; (b) effective strategies for family recruitment and retention; (c) the cultural sensitivity of interventions; (d) application of a developmental life course perspective; (e) strategies for linking higher-risk population subgroups with potentially beneficial services; (f) improved diffusion mechanisms for sustained, quality delivery; and (g) research-informed policy making. A summary of how articles address these tasks concludes with a discussion of the importance of a stronger public service orientation in prevention science. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2002). Project Family prevention trials based in community-university partnerships: Toward scaled-up preventive interventions. Prevention Science, 3(3), 203-221. (PF 67) | |
| Findings from Project Family are presented to illustrate how a partnership-based program of research on universal family- and youth-focused interventions can address a public health challenge. One aspect of this public health challenge is the high prevalence of youth problem behaviors and a second aspect concerns barriers to scaling-up empirically-supported preventive interventions designed to ameliorate those problem behaviors. Illustrative findings are presented within a conceptual framework for scaling-up preventive interventions to achieve greater public health impact. Three interrelated sets of research requirements and findings are addressed within this framework: (a) rigorously demonstrating intervention effectiveness; (b) attaining sufficient levels of intervention utilization in diverse general populations, requiring study of recruitment/retention strategies, cultural competence, and economic viability; and (c) achieving implementation quality, involving investigation of adherence and dosage effects, along with theory-driven, intervention quality improvement. The paper concludes with discussion of the need for careful investigation of community-university partnership models as a key mechanism for large-scale implementation. | |
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| Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., Trudeau, L., & Shin, C. (2002). Longitudinal substance initiation outcomes for a universal preventive intervention combining family and school programs. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16(2), 129-134. (PF 65) | |
| This study evaluated the effects of an intervention that combined a family competency-training intervention with a school-based intervention on substance initiation. Thirty-six rural schools were matched and then randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) the classroom-based Life Skills Training and the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Children 10-14; (2) Life Skills Training only; (3) or a control condition. Outcomes were examined one year following the intervention posttest, using a Substance Initiation Index (SII) measuring lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana, and by rates of each individual substance. Planned intervention-control contrasts showed significant effects for both the combined and the Life Skills-only interventions on the SII and on marijuana initiation. Relative reduction rates for alcohol initiation were 30.0% for the combined intervention and 4.1% for Life Skills only. | |
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| Goldberg, C. J., Spoth, R., Meek, J., & Molgaard, V. (2001). The Capable Families and Youth Project: Extension-university-community partnerships. Journal of Extension [On-line serial], 39(3). Available: http://www.joe.org/joe/2001june/a6.html (PF 62) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Griffin, K. W., Epstein, J. A., Botvin, G. J., & Spoth, R. L. (2001). Social competence and substance use among rural youth: Mediating role of social benefit expectancies of use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(4), 485-498. (PF 69) | |
| The present study examined the mechanisms by which social competence may be associated with substance use during early adolescence. The sample consisted of rural youth (N=1,568) attending 36 junior high schools in a Midwestern state. Structural equation modeling indicated that social competence had a direct protective association with substance use in that those you who were more socially confident, assertive, and had better communication skills reported less smoking and drinking. Further analyses revealed that the relationship between social competence and substance use was fully mediated by social benefits expectancies of use. These findings suggest that poorly competent youth turn to smoking and alcohol use because they perceive that there are important social benefits to doing so, such as having more friends, looking grown up and "cool," and having more fun. Prevention programs that teach youth interpersonal skills may reduce the initiation of substance use by improving social competence and providing youth with more adaptive means of gaining social benefits, such as approval from peers. | |
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| Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2001). Preparing for the Drug Free Years: Session-specific effects of a universal parent-training intervention with rural families. Journal of Drug Education, 31(1), 47-68. (PF 31) | |
| Like their urban counterparts, adolescents from rural areas are at risk for health and behavior problems, including alcohol and other drug use. This study tested the effects on parenting practices of specific sessions of a parent-training intervention, Preparing for the Drug Free Years, designed to prevent adolescent substance abuse and other problem behaviors. Two hundred and nine rural families were randomly assigned to an intervention or a wait-list control condition. Analyses of covariance comparing adjusted posttest scores revealed that parents in the intervention condition reported significant improvements in parenting behaviors targeted by specific intervention sessions when compared with controls. Effects were most pronounced among mothers. No significant effects were found for nontargeted parenting behaviors, and targeted behaviors were most improved among parents attending relevant program sessions. These results strengthen the internal validity of the study and increase the plausibility that reported improvements were due to the intervention. | |
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| Kosterman, R., Park, J., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., & Spoth, R. (2001). Modeling the effects of a preventive parent training intervention: An experimental test of "Preparing for the Drug Free Years.Unpublished manuscript (PF 51) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Molgaard, V., & Spoth, R. (2001). Strengthening Families Program for young adolescents: Overview and outcomes. In S I Pfeiffer & L A Reddy (Eds), Innovative mental health programs for children: Programs that work(pp. 15-29). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press. Co-published simultaneously as Residential treatment for children & youth, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 15-29, 2001, Bi (PF 57) | |
| The Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth10-14 (SFP 10-14) is a video-based program designed to reduce substance abuse and other problem behavior in youth. Objectives include 1) building skills in youth to reduce risk and build protective factors, 2) improving parenting practices known to reduce risk in youth, and 3) building stronger family units to support and guide youth. The SFP 10-14 is a universal program designed for ethnically-diverse general populations at all economic and educational levels. The 10 to 14-year-old youth, late elementary and middle school age, attend the program and practice skills together with their parents. | |
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| Spoth, R., Goldberg, C., Neppl, T., Trudeau, L., & Ramisetty-Mikler, S. (2001). Rural-urban differences in the distribution of parent-reported risk factors for substance use among young adolescents. Journal of Substance Abuse, 13(4), 609-623. (PF 37) | |
| A recent report (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse [CASA], 2000) found that the rural-urban distribution of substance use and known risk factors for substance use differed, with rural youth showing higher levels of risk factors, as well as higher levels of use. The current investigation, while not directly examining substance use per se, further examined rural-urban differences in the distribution of known risk factors for substance use among youth, based on information from parent reports. We hypothesized that risk factors would be more commonly reported in rural areas. In addition, analyses were conducted to examine the sensitivity of the findings to selected rural-urban classification schemes. Study 1 data were collected from a random sample of Midwestern parents (N = 339)with a young adolescent between the ages of 11 and 13 years. Study 2 data were collected from a second sample of Midwestern parents (N = 593) with a young adolescent in the same age range. Rural-urban analysis of variance comparisons demonstrated higher levels of cumulative risk among rural youth. An evaluation of the sensitivity of the analysis to rural-urban classification schemes indicated the findings were robust, but that there was some minor variation in rural-urban differences by classification scheme. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2001). Randomized trial of brief family interventions for general populations: Adolescent substance use outcomes four years following baseline. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(4), 627-642. (PF 50) | |
| This study examined the long-term substance use outcomes of two brief interventions designed for general population families of young adolescents. Thirty-three public schools were randomly assigned to three conditions: the five-session Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program, the seven-session Iowa Strengthening Families Program, and a minimal contact control condition. The pretest involved 667 sixth graders and their families. Assessments included multiple measures of initiation and current use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Pretest data were collected in the sixth grade and the reported follow-up data were collected in the tenth grade. Significant intervention-control differences in initiation and current use were found for both interventions. It is concluded that brief family skills-training interventions designed for general populations have the potential to reduce adolescent substance use and thus have important public health implications. | |
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| Stubben, J. D. (2001). Working with and conducting research among American Indian families. American Behavioral Scientist, 44(9), 1466-1481. (PF 75) | |
| Acquiring and using cultural competence in service delivery or research is a process in which the service provider or researcher must acknowledge cultural differences, develop awareness of personal cultural values, understand cross-cultural interactions, learn the family's culture, and adapt the program or research project to fit the culture. Recently, American Indian communities have begun to assume a major role in the control of service delivery and research efforts in their communities due to their special status as sovereign nations and their efforts to protect the cultural integrity of the program or research. This article will outline and offer insight into the cultural, historical, social, and spiritual issues that must be learned prior to and when conducting service or program delivery or research among American Indian communities. | |
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| Molgaard, V. M., Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2000). Competency training: The Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14. OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin(NCJ 182208). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (PF 48) | |
| The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is dedicated to preventing and reversing trends of increased delinquency and violence among adolescents. These trends have alarmed the public during the past decade and challenged the juvenile justice system. It is widely accepted that increases in delinquency and violence over the past decade are rooted in a number of interrelated social problems— child abuse and neglect, alcohol and drug abuse, youth conflict and aggression, and early sexual involvement— that may originate within the family structure. The focus of OJJDP's Family Strengthening Series is to provide assistance to ongoing efforts across the country to strengthen the family unit by discussing the effectiveness of family intervention programs and providing resources to families and communities | |
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| Park, J., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Haggerty, K. P., Duncan, T. E., Duncan, S. C., & Spoth, R. (2000). Effects of the "Preparing for the Drug Free Years" curriculum on growth in alcohol use and risk for alcohol use in early adolescence. Prevention Science, 1(3), 125-138. (PF 49) | |
| Preparing for the Drug-Free Years (PDFY) is a curriculum designed to help parents learn skills to consistently communicate clear norms against adolescent substance use, effectively and proactively manage their families, reduce family conflict, and help their children learn skills to resist antisocial peer influences. This study examined the effects of PDFY on the trajectories of these factors, as well as on the trajectory of alcohol use from early to mid adolescence. The sample consisted of 424 rural families of sixth graders from schools randomly assigned to an intervention or a control condition. Data were collected from both parents and students at pretest, posttest, and 1-, 2- and 3½-year follow-ups. Latent growth models were examined. PDFY significantly reduced the growth of alcohol use and improved parent norms regarding adolescent alcohol use over time. Implications for prevention and evaluation are discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R. (2000). Positive psychology and prevention: Nurturing a movement toward diffusion of science-based family and youth competency building through university-community partnerships.Unpublished manuscript (PF 52) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (2000). Research on family engagement in preventive interventions: Toward improved use of scientific findings in primary prevention practice. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 21(2), 267-284. (PF 53) | |
| Effective strategies for family engagement are essential in the implementation of models directed toward the application of research findings to primary prevention practice. Although there has been limited investigation of family engagement in preventive interventions for general populations, the research has yielded several preliminary findings that warrant further study. Notably, families in eligible general populations can differ to a significant degree in intervention preferences and beliefs that influence their motivation to engage in interventions or in intervention evaluations. Also, a number of stable family member characteristics, such as internalizing/externalizing problems, have not been predictive of family engagement. Educational attainment has been predictive, but the differences between participants and nonparticipants have tended to be small. In addition, there are several common barriers to engagement, including family scheduling conflicts, that place practical limits on participation levels and need to be carefully addressed through engagement techniques. Collectively, findings from the literature suggest directions for the development of effective engagement strategies; also, they underscore the value of family engagement research in science-based prevention practices. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2000). Modeling factors influencing enrollment in family-focused preventive intervention research. Prevention Science, 1(4), 213-225. (PF 55) | |
| The reported study tests an extension of a previously supported model of health belief and family context predictors of parental inclination to enroll in preventive interventions. The extended model addresses limitations in the prior investigation by examining the role of intervention-related beliefs and inclinations on actual enrollment in a skills training intervention research project. Model testing was conducted with an independent sample of 1,043 parents of 6th graders, using data from a prospective participation factor survey conducted six months prior to research project recruitment. The model fit is strong and all but one of the primary hypothesized effects is supported. Notably, both stated inclination to enroll in an intervention and in the research project had significant positive effects on actual project enrollment occurring six months later. Perceived intervention benefits and barriers had significant effects on both types of stated inclination to enroll. Examination of modification indices for the model suggested an additional path linking educational attainment with actual enrollment. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (2000). Reducing adolescents' aggressive and hostile behaviors: Randomized trial effects of a brief family intervention four years past baseline. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 154, 1248-1257 (PF 56) | |
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Objective. The objective of this study was to examine the long-term effects of a brief family intervention on general population adolescents' aggressive and hostile behaviors. Design. This study was a randomized trial including 22 public schools assigned to the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) or a control condition. Analyses supported sample representativeness and failed to show differential attrition effects four years following baseline.Intervention. The ISFP is a seven-session intervention for parents and their sixth-grade child. Measures. The multi-informant, multimethod measures included independent observer ratings of adolescent aggressive-hostile behaviors in adolescent-parent interactions, family member report of aggressive-hostile behaviors in those interactions, and adolescent self report of aggressive-destructive conduct across settings. Data were collected during the sixth (pre- and post-intervention), seventh, eighth, and tenth grades. Results. All measures showed a generally positive trend in intervention-control group differences over time. During the tenth grade, significant intervention-control differences were found for adolescent self report of aggressive-destructive conduct, with relative reduction rates ranging from 31.7% to 77.0%. Significant differences were shown for observer-rated aggressive-hostile behaviors in adolescent-parent interactions; differences in family member reports of those behaviors were not significant. Supplemental analyses of both interactional behavior measures, specific to parent gender, indicated significant experimental group differences in interactions with mothers but not with fathers. Conclusions. Brief family competency-training interventions designed for general populations have potential to reduce aggressive and hostile behaviors in adolescent's interactions with parents, as well as adolescent aggressive behaviors occurring outside of the home setting. Thus, this type of intervention has important public health implications. |
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| Spoth, R. (1998). Family-focused prevention intervention research: A pragmatic perspective on issues and future directions [Electronic version].In R S Ashery, E B Robertson, & K L(NIDA Research Monograph 177, NIH Publication No. 97-4135, pp. 459-510). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. Available [On-line]: http://www.nida.nih.gov/pdf/monographs/monograph177/download177.html (PF 25) | |
| The purpose of this paper is to present a pragmatic, issues-oriented approach to future research on family-focused preventive interventions. Issues to be addressed by future research are presented in a framework that hierarchically orders researcher activities oriented toward the goal of practical applications of research findings. An overview of challenges associated with the performance of research activities is provided. Selected issues are discussed in greater depth, using current research projects to illustrate options for addressing them. Among the selected issues are practical application of etiological research on family processes to intervention design, the need to enhance the sensitivity of evaluation study designs, the use of consumer research methods to strengthen strategies for recruitment and retention, and the development of guidelines for the dissemination of findings to the field. Finally, issues cross cutting multiple phases of research activity are briefly discussed, including the consideration of data on family needs when setting the research agenda for the field and the development of an infrastructure to support this area of research. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (1998). Direct and indirect latent-variable parenting outcomes of two universal family-focused preventive interventions: Extending a public health-oriented research base. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66(2), 385-399. (PF 26) | |
| Recent literature underscores the need for studies of family-based preventive interventions oriented toward public health objectives. This article illustrates a program evaluation approach for the study of family intervention outcomes in general populations. Thirty-three rural schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program (PDFY), the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), and a minimal-contact control group. Self-report and observational data collected from 523 families were used to develop measurement models of three latent parenting constructs that included measurement method effects. Analyses were conducted to ensure initial and attrition-related group equivalencies and to assess school effects. Structural equation models of the hypothesized sequence of direct and indirect effects for both PDFY and ISFP were then fit to the data. All hypothesized effects were significant for both interventions. The discussion addresses the potential public health benefits of evaluation research on universal preventive interventions. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., Lepper, H., Haggerty, K., & Wall, M. (1998). Risk moderation of parent and child outcomes in a preventive intervention: A test and replication. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, (invited article for special section on preventive intervention research)68(4), 565-579 (PF 41) | |
| This paper examines family risk-related variations in proximal parent and young adolescent outcomes of a universal family-focused preventive intervention. Analyses employed an index of cumulative family risk that incorporated measures of sociodemographic characteristics and social-emotional adjustment of parent(s) and young adolescents. An initial investigation involved a sample of 209 Midwestern families of young adolescents participating in a controlled study of the Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program (Study 1). Results suggested that the efficacy of the intervention was largely unrelated to cumulative family risk. These findings were replicated with a second sample of 428 families (Study 2). Implications for future intervention applications and outcome research are discussed. | |
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| Conger, R. D. (1997). The social context of substance abuse: A development perspective.In E B Robertson, Z Sloboda, G Boyd, L Beatty, & N Kozel (Eds), Rural substance abuse: State of knowledge and issues. (Research Monograph No.168, NIH Publication No. 97 4177,( pp. 6-36). Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse. (PF 21) | |
| This chapter considers five major themes that characterize the relationships among social context, individual dispositions, and syndromes of problem behaviors that include substance use and abuse. The discussion first summarizes contemporary findings regarding risk mechanisms that typically involve reciprocal links between social contexts or processes and individual development. This review leads to the elaboration of a developmental model regarding social influences in substance abuse. The final section of the chapter considers the need for future research to evaluate the proposed conceptual framework. The most basic premise in current understanding of explaining multiple problem behaviors is that substance abuse is part of a developmental progression from relatively minor to more serious antisocial activities. Placing substance abuse within a developmental progression of antisocial behaviors that begin with relatively minor deviant acts during childhood underscores the need for social-contextual models of substance abuse that include explanatory variables existing early in the life course. The realization that the early manifestations of problem behaviors likely become apparent before adolescence has placed new emphasis on the role of the family in explanations of antisocial tendencies. The current perspective suggests that family interactions involve reciprocal influences in parent and child behaviors that affect both the probability of child misconduct and also disruptions in effective child-rearing practices. An important advance in the field has been the recognition that reciprocal influences exist not only within the family but also between the behaviors of individual family members and the other social contexts important to the development or restraint of adolescent misconduct. Future research needs to examine how relationships between family and other community contexts affect the life course of youth. Especially important will be studies of developmental sequences that create risk for or protect against future conduct and substance use problems. | |
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| Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J. D., Spoth, R., Haggerty, K. P., & Zhu, K. (1997). Effects of a preventive parent-training intervention on observed family interactions: Proximal outcomes from Preparing for the Drug Free Years. Journal of Community Psychology, 25(4), 337-352. (PF 22) | |
| Children are especially vulnerable to the initiation of substance use and other problem behaviors as they move from childhood into early adolescence. This is true for children living in urban and rural areas alike. A number of family-related factors have been identified that contribute to the risk for or protection against such problems. This article reports the results of an experimental test of the effects of Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) on targeted parental behaviors. PDFY is a parenting curriculum based theoretically on the social development model; it seeks to reduce risks and enhance protection against early substance use initiation by improving patterns of parental behavior and family interaction predictive of childhood substance use. The study examined parental behavior targeted by specific intervention sessions, based on systematic observations of videotaped family interactions. The sample consisted of economically stressed, rural Midwestern families. Consistent with hypotheses, the PDFY intervention was found to be effective in promoting proactive communication from parent to child and in improving the quality of parent-child relationships. PDFY also reduced mothers' negative interactions with their children in the study. | |
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| Haggerty, K. P., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1999). Parenting for prevention of adolescent problem behaviors with Preparing for the Drug Free Years. OJJDP Juvenile Justice Bulletin (PF 47) | |
| This Bulletin provides an overview of the Preparing for the Drug Free Years (PDFY) parenting program, beginning with the program’s history from its introduction in the public schools of Seattle, WA, in1987 to the present testing in Iowa with Project Family, and concludes with results of studies of the program. The goal of PDFY is to empower parents of children ages 8 to 14 to reduce the critical risk factors that contribute to their children’s future drug and/or alcohol abuse or other common adolescent problems, while enhancing protective factors. The research presented in this bulletin is unique in that very few studies with strong research designs have examined the effectiveness of parent training offered as a universal preventive intervention. Evaluation studies of PDFY have addressed two major issues: (1) the success of dissemination efforts; and (2) long-term effects of reducing targeted risk factors and substance abuse, while enhancing protective factors. Under Project Family at Iowa State University, PDFY was studied involving more extensive data collection regarding effectiveness than previous studies: more in-depth written questionnaires assessing knowledge and attitudes, self-reported behavior, and videotaped family interactions. The results of a pilot study indicated significant overall improvement on intervention-targeted parenting behaviors and general child management skills as reported by parents. A subsequent trial phase study replicated the features of the pilot study, but also included a larger sample, a school-based random assignment to condition and a longer follow-up period. Results indicated sustained improvements in parent behaviors and subsequent reductions in children’s smoking and drinking behaviors. Together, these studies demonstrate promising evidence that the PDFY program is appropriate for general and diverse populations and that it can be successfully disseminated. Most importantly, these studies demonstrate that PDFY improves parenting practices in ways that reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for adolescent problem behaviors. | |
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| Lutz, G. M., Spoth, R., Crew, B. K., Neppl, T., Fahrney, K., Ramisetty-Mikler, S., & Roth, K. (1999). Iowa substance abuse prevention needs assessment: Public survey findings.Research Monograph Report to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention for the Iowa Department of Public Health Cedar Falls, IA: University of Northern Iowa, Center for Social and Behavioral Research (PF 54) | |
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Chapter 1 Introduction Background Objectives Project Framework Report Outline Chapter 2 Methods Sample Selection and sampling Design Selection of Indicator Measures Instrument Development Survey Procedures Measure Refinement and Index construction Community Domain Substance Abuse Outcomes Specific Outcome Items Comparison of Outcome Indices and Specific Items Summary of Statewide Findings Chapter 3 Findings From the Statewide Survey Sample Description: Who Was Interviewed Risk, Protective and Outcome Indices Individual Domain Family Domain Chapter 4 Findings From the Seniors Survey Summary Analysis of Risk and Protective Indices for seniors Summary of Senior Findings Chapter 5 Findings From the African American Survey Ethnic Identity and Substance Use Religious Activity and Substance Use Summary of African American Findings Chapter 6 Special Analyses Related to Prevention Needs Specific Individual Risk Items and Outcomes Environmental Stressors Multivariate Analyses of Outcomes Risk, Protective,and Outcome Indices Across the Lifespan Substance Use and Pregnancy Contact with Prevention Services Summary of Special Analyses Chapter 7 Summary and Conclusions |
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| Redmond, C., Spoth, R., Shin, C., & Lepper, H. (1999). Modeling long-term parent outcomes of two universal family-focused preventive interventions: One year follow-up results. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(6), 975-984. (PF 43) | |
| The present investigation extends the work described in Spoth, Redmond, and Shin (1998). That report presented findings indicating that two universal family-focused preventive intervention programs each had direct effects on one proximal parenting outcome (intervention-targeted parenting behaviors) and had indirect effects on two more global and distal outcomes (parent-child affective quality and general child management) at posttesting. A replication of the previously-tested parenting outcome model was conducted using one-year follow-up data and procedures identical to those used in the earlier study. Results of the present study (N = 404families) suggest that effects on parenting outcomes were sustained through a one-year period following the posttest. The proximal outcome effect sizes were in the same range as those observed in the posttest model described by Spoth et al. (1998), although they were smaller in magnitude. | |
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| Rueter, M. A., Conger, R. D., & Ramisetty-Mikler, S. (1999). Assessing the benefits of attending a parenting skills program: A theoretical approach to predicting direct and moderating effects. Family Relations, 48(1), 67-77. (PF 32) | |
| Using a theoretical model to ground this investigation, specific hypotheses about factors that moderate the benefits of attending the Preparing for the Drug-Free Years (PDFY) program were tested. PDFY is a skills-training program designed to teach parents and children skills that reduce a child's risk for drug and alcohol use. We hypothesized that high levels of family stress (i.e., marital difficulties or financial concerns) reduce the benefits of program attendance, and that strong pre-program skills (i.e., parental communication, parental negativity, or a parent-child relationship quality) increase the benefits of program attendance. These hypotheses were experimentally tested on a sample of families that each included a sixth or seventh grade child. The results for fathers (N = 144) supported the study hypotheses, while mothers (N = 150) who benefited most from program participation showed the weakest pre-program communication skills and reported the greatest marital difficulties. | |
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| Spoth, R., Goldberg, C., & Redmond, C. (1999). Engaging families in longitudinal preventive intervention research: Discrete-time survival analysis of socioeconomic and social-emotional risk factors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(1), 157-163. (PF 33) | |
| This study examined whether family risk factors predicted attrition in a prevention research project that incorporated procedures to increase retention in assessment and intervention activities. Analyses employed data from 667 rural families collected over four waves and consisted of: (a) young adolescent and parent reports of their internalizing and externalizing problems, (b) observer ratings of distress in parent-child interactions, and (c) family socioeconomic status (SES). Analyses failed to identify any risk factors as significant predictors of intervention participation. Only SES was found to be significant as a predictor of assessment attrition. This SES result appeared to reflect an association between lower educational attainment and an increased likelihood of attrition. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Molgaard, V. (1999). Project Family: A partnership integrating research with the practice of promoting family and youth competencies. In T R Chibucos & R Lerner (Eds), Serving children and families through community-university partnerships: Success stories(pp. 127-137). Boston: Kluwer Academic. (PF 45) | |
| Project Family involves a community-university partnership directed toward "action-oriented research" (e.g., Small, 1995). As such, it aims to achieve two goals: To generate knowledge that will advance the science of family-focused competency building and to enhance the well-being of participating families and children. the project's ultimate purpose is to strengthen the competencies of general population families and children on a broad scale— to ensure that a larger number of children develop into healthy and adaptive adults in the project's targeted general populations. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., & Lepper, H. (1999). Alcohol initiation outcomes of universal family-focused preventive interventions: One- and two-year follow-ups of a controlled study. (Invited article for Alcohol and the Family: Opportunities for Prevention [Special issue]) Journal of Studies on Alcohol(Suppl. 13), 103-111. (PF 44) | |
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Objective. This article summarizes the literature on alcohol initiation outcomes of universal family interventions and examines the long-term effects of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) on these outcomes. Method. A longitudinal, controlled efficacy study of the ISFP was conducted with 446 families from 22 rural school districts in a Midwestern state. Alcohol initiation behaviors were measured by a four item index (Alcohol Initiation Index – AII), with low scores representing a lower level of alcohol initiation. The AII was examined using mixed-model ANCOVAs. Relative reduction rates for individual initiation behaviors and initiation differences among higher- and lower-dosage intervention groups were calculated. Results. AII scores were significantly lower among intervention group adolescents than among control group adolescents at one- and two-year follow-up assessments. Relative-reduction rate differences between intervention and control groups on specific alcohol initiation behaviors (e.g., onset of drinking without parental permission, onset of drunkenness) ranged from approximately 30% to 60%. Dosage-related initiation differences were evident only at the one-year follow-up. Conclusions. Studies indicating the public health benefits of universal interventions that delay the initiation of alcohol use also underscore the importance of the current line of investigation. AII effect sizes and relative reduction rates of specific alcohol initiation behaviors support the practical significance of the findings. A gap in the prevention outcome knowledge base could be filled with more rigorous universal family-focused intervention studies that address the wide range of implementation and methodological issues in this area of investigation. |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Shin, C., & Huck, S. (1999). A protective process model of parent-child affective quality and child mastery effects on oppositional behaviors: A test and replication. Journal of School Psychology, 37(1), 49-71. (PF 34) | |
| This paper examines a model of the effects of parent-child affective quality and young adolescent sense of mastery on young adolescent oppositional behaviors. In addition to a direct effect of sense of mastery on oppositional behaviors, the model includes direct and indirect effects of parent-child affective quality on those behaviors, as well as across-time effects of oppositional behaviors on affective quality. Because the data were obtained from family competency-building intervention studies, the model controls for family attendance in the intervention. Results from covariance structure modeling, using data from a sample of families participating in an initial intervention study (n = 171), generally supported the hypothesized model. The model was then tested with an independent sample of 361 families. Results from the second sample were consistent with results from the initial model test. | |
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| Spoth, R., Reyes, M. L., Redmond, C., & Shin, C. (1999). Assessing a public health approach to delay onset and progression of adolescent substance use: Latent transition and loglinear analyses of longitudinal family preventive intervention outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(5), 619-630. (PF 42) | |
| This study examined the effects of the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) and the Preparing for the Drug Free Years Program (PDFY) on young adolescent transitions from nonuse of substances to initiation and progression of substance use. Analyses incorporated three waves of data collected over a 2½-year period from 329 rural young adolescents. Outcomes were analyzed by using loglinear models that incorporated substance use status frequencies derived from latent transition analyses. Effects on delayed substance use initiation were shown for both the ISFP and PDFY at a two-year follow-up. Also at this follow-up, the PDFY showed effects on delayed progression of use among those previously reporting initiation. | |
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| Catalano, R. F., Kosterman, R., Haggerty, K., Hawkins, J. D., & Spoth, R. L. (1998). A universal intervention for the prevention of substance abuse: Preparing for the Drug Free Years [Electronic version].In R S Ashery, E B Robertson, & K L Kumpfer (Eds), Drug abuse prevention through family interventions. (NIDA Research Monograph 177, NIH Publication No. 97-4135) (, pp. 130-159). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. Available [On-line]: http:/ (PF 29) | |
| This chapter presents a paradigm for empirically based universal intervention programs that focus on risk reduction and protective factor enhancement among adolescent populations. Given the high prevalence of substance abuse among America's young people, universal interventions that can be implemented with widespread acceptability and efficiency are often desirable and preferred over selective or indicated interventions. To address the need for empirically tested universal interventions, recent studies have been conducted using adequate sampling, appropriate measurement methods and statistical models, and checks for fidelity of intervention implementation. These studies are summarized and presented in this chapter. Using the Preparing for the Drug-Free Years (PDFY) program as an example of a universal prevention program targeted at parents of preadolescents, this chapter: (1) describes the theoretical underpinnings and the structure of the PDFY curriculum; (2) presents PDFY dissemination and descriptive findings; (3) presents experimental findings that test PDFY effectiveness; and (4) concludes with implications for future research with universal prevention family interventions. Guided by the social development model, PDFY seeks to reduce adolescent drug abuse and behavioral problems by increasing opportunities for involvement and interaction between parents and children, teaching parents and children skills to resist peer pressure and refuse to engage in inappropriate behavior, increasing rewards for prosocial behavior through practicing consistent and contingent family management, and managing and reducing family conflict. In conclusion, studies on PDFY dissemination and effectiveness provide promising evidence that the PDFY program is appropriate for general and diverse populations and that it can be successfully disseminated. Furthermore, these studies show that PDFY improves parenting practices in ways that reduce risk factors and enhance protective factors for substance abuse among young people. | |
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| Russell, D. W., Kahn, J., Spoth, R., & Altmaier, E. M. (1998). Analyzing data from experimental studies: A latent variable structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(1), 18-29. (PF 36) | |
| This article illustrates the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures with latent variables to analyze data from experimental studies. These procedures allow the researcher to remove the biasing effects of random and correlated measurement error on the outcomes of the experiment and to examine processes that may account for changes in the outcome variables that are observed. Analyses of data from a Project Family study, an experimental intervention project with rural families that strives to improve parenting skills, are presented to illustrate the use of these modeling procedures. Issues that arise in applying SEM procedures, such as sample size and distributional characteristics of the measures, are discussed. | |
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| Molgaard, V. K. (1997). The Extension Service as key mechanism for research and services delivery for prevention of mental health disorders in rural areas. American Journal of Community Psychology, 25(4), 515-544. (PF 23) | |
| The extension service associated with each state's land grant institution is an important resource for both programming and conducting research for the prevention of mental health disorders. This paper briefly outlines the history and structure of the extension service and gives examples of relevant programming across the country related to mental health. Although this programming is relevant to both rural and urban settings, this paper focuses on prevention programs and research in rural areas. Next is a description of extension's potential contributions to the prevention research process at each step of the Institute of Medicine's Preventive Intervention Research Cycle, followed by an illustration of an effective partnership between a research team and extension. Some of the ways in which extension can assist in the research process include doing local needs assessment and determining prevalence rates of a particular problem, reviewing literature on risk and protective factors, providing input on particular communities' needs and characteristics, and becoming a trusted link between local citizens and the research community. The article concludes with barriers to such an effective partnership and ways of reducing those hindrances. | |
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| Spoth, R. (1997). Challenges in defining and developing the field of rural mental disorder preventive intervention research. American Journal of Community Psychology, 25(4), 425-448. (PF 24) | |
| This article presents an overview of selected issues and challenges in defining and developing the field of rural preventive intervention research. One fundamental challenge is to clarify the distinguishing characteristics of prevention science in rural contexts. Other challenges are evident in the need to address: the lack of consensus on conceptual and methodological approaches to this field, limited empirical study to date, the tremendous diversity of rural populations, and inconsistencies in the usage of the term "rural." This article suggests the organization of a work group to formulate and implement a clear research agenda. In addition, it discusses several general questions that, if addressed, might serve to better define and further develop the field. These questions concern: the implications of multiple approaches to prevention science in rural contexts, the classification of rural populations, the functional relevance of rural residence in the etiology of specific disorders, the application of extant etiological models to interventions designed specifically for rural populations, the conduct of rural area prevention needs assessments, the development of models for collaboration between intervention researchers and rural residents, and strategies to engage rural residents in preventive interventions. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1997). Implementing universal competency-training interventions with rural families of young adolescents.Unpublished manuscript (PF 35) | |
| This article describes formative tasks undertaken for our competency-training research project with rural families of young adolescents. It also summarizes selected, illustrative results of tasks accomplished to date. Our first basic task was to develop a conceptual framework for our multicomponent project. In part, this framework articulates the significance of our proposed preventive intervention research with rural families in terms of its response to recommendations from three key areas of the prevention literature. A second project task was an initial phase of programmatic research on factors that influence rural family engagement in preventive intervention projects. Following a summary of findings from several studies of rural family engagement factors, results from analyses of the relationship between family engagement and intervention outcomes are presented. | |
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| Spoth, R. L., Redmond, C., Kahn, J. H., & Shin, C. (1997). A prospective validation study of inclination, belief, and context predictors of family-focused prevention involvement. Family Process, 36(4), 403-429. (PF 30) | |
| Prior research by the authors tested a model of factors influencing parent inclination to participate in parenting intervention. Family context, belief, attitude, and inclination to participate variables from this model were used to predict the actual participation of 1,121 families in assessment and intervention activities of a family-focused preventive intervention research project. Invitations to the project assessment and intervention components were, respectively, about 6 months and 10 months following the initiation of a telephone survey collecting predictor variable data. Logistic regression analyses examining each predictor individually showed that a number of family context, belief, attitude, and inclination variables were predictive of project participation. Subsequently, multiple logistic regressions were conducted, entering variables by blocks corresponding to theoretical model components. These analyses showed that prospectively stated inclination to participate in a parenting intervention and level of education were consistently significant predictors of both assessment participation and intervention enrollment. Implications for both research and practice are discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R., Yoo, S., Kosterman, R., & Shin, C. (1997). Applying readily accessible graphical techniques to assess curvilinear relationships and detect outliers: The case of protective family processes. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 20(3), 353-364. (PF 27) | |
| The purpose of this article is to use data from a study of protective family processes to illustrate how readily accessible graphical techniques can supplement correlation and regression analyses. Graphical techniques can help to (a) better understand family process data from a descriptive standpoint, (b) minimize erroneous statistical conclusions, and (c) clarify theoretically important relationships among variables. Following a brief description of the substantive area selected for illustration of the graphical techniques, data from a study employing multimethod measurement procedures (N = 146) are employed to illustrate two graphical technique applications in the analysis of a predictor (marital quality) of a study outcome variable (parent-child affective quality). Instructions for the application of relevant procedures in SAS and SPSS statistical packages are provided. | |
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| Stubben, J. (1997). Culturally competent substance abuse prevention among rural American Indians. In US Department of Health and Human Services, Rural substance abuse: State of knowledge and issues(NIDA Monograph Series, Vol. 168). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse. (PF 78) | |
| This chapter is written from the perspective of the American Indian by a community advocate and strategist interested in promoting the prevention of alcohol-related problems in the Indian community. The contents of this paper draw heavily from several sources and represent a synthesis of ideas from: (1) the two preceding papers in this volume on American Indians (May, Thurman); (2) other papers presented at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Working Group on Alcohol Prevention Research in Ethnic Communities held in May 1992 and published in this volume; (3) discussion comments made by a variety of participants at the working group; (4) the experiences and research knowledge of the author, who is an advocate for community-based studies and programs to prevent alcohol-related problems in the American Indian community. In terms of future research, several important dimensions of evaluations will be required. First, culturally competent prevention programs for American Indians have not been submitted to a randomized, controlled efficacy study with long-term follow-up evaluation of the impact of such programs on risk and protective factors for alcohol problems. Second, prior assessment has not measured the impact of the cultural components of prevention programs for American Indians upon these risk and protective factors. Third, there has not been controlled, comprehensive measurement as to the impact of culturally competent drug abuse prevention programs on community perspectives of alcohol misuse. Fourth, there is a need to bring the research and tribal communities closer together in order to be able to accomplish the aforementioned objectives and to develop culturally competent prevention programs based upon culturally relevant research findings. One key way to bring the two communities together is by recruiting culturally competent researchers who have had extensive, long-term contact with the tribal community and are familiar with the local beliefs, culture, norms, practices, traditions, values, language, and socioeconomic conditions of the community. | |
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| Kumpfer, K. L., Molgaard, V., & Spoth, R. (1996). The Strengthening Families Program for the prevention of delinquency and drug use.In R D Peters & R J McMahon (Eds), Preventing childhood disorders, substance abuse, and delinquency. (pp. 241-267). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PF 17) | |
| This chapter describes the theoretical underpinnings, development, implementation, and results of evaluations of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), which is a family-focused prevention intervention for high-risk families from special populations. This program has two versions:(a) one for elementary school children and their families and (b) another for middle school or junior high school students and their families. The SFP is a comprehensive family-focused curriculum that includes three components: parent training, children’s skills training, and family skills training. A number of evaluation and demonstration projects have evaluated the effectiveness of SFP for several populations at risk for substance abuse and delinquency. These have included children of substance abusers, children at risk for outplacement due to child abuse and neglect, and low-income rural and urban parents of different ethnic groups (i.e., African American, Asian Pacific Islander, Latino or Mexican American, and French Canadian). This chapter discusses the results of the original SFP evaluation project, several replications with minority families, and a current National Institute of Mental Health-funded clinical trial in 19 Iowa counties. It concludes with suggestions for improving the implementation of family skills training programs in general. The results from SFP replications showed a similar pattern of positive findings concerning improvements in targeted outcomes as indicated by standardized measures. Family intervention improved parenting skills as well as decreased children’s risk factors for substance abuse, such as family environment, school bonding, depression, and delinquency. The Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP) incorporates the same basic SFP content and format, however the content was modified to be age appropriate, match local culture, and include more resiliency-enhancing skills training. | |
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| Spoth, R., Ball, A. B., Klose, A., & Redmond, C. (1996). Illustration of a market segmentation technique using family-focused prevention program preference data. Health Education Research, 11(2), 259-267. (PF 15) | |
| Using family-focused prevention programs as an example, this paper illustrates how consumer research techniques can be employed to segment populations targeted for the promotion of preventive interventions. Two multivariate statistical techniques, conjoint analysis and cluster analysis, can be used to clarify differences in program preferences among target population segments which can be helpful in tailoring program promotions to those segments. Following a summary of the rationale and indications for preference-based segmentation, an application of the two techniques is presented. Using data on parents' preferences for various features of family skills programs, three clusters were identified which varied along several dimensions, including preferred level of effort expended for a program. Practical strategies for program promotions suggested by segmentation analyses are outlined. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1996). A theory-based parent competency model incorporating intervention attendance effects. Family Relations [Special issue on family-related preventive interventions], 45(2), 139-147. (PF 16) | |
| This study tests a parent competency model that incorporates the effects of attendance in a parenting skills training intervention. Observational and self-report data from 209 families participating in a controlled study were used to test the model. Results generally supported the model, for both mothers and fathers. Analyses also confirmed that child management behaviors mediated both parent conventionality and intervention attendance effects on affective quality, although these results differed for mothers and fathers. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1996). Illustrating a framework for rural prevention research: Project Family studies of rural family participation and outcomes.In R D Peters & R J McMahon (Eds), Preventing childhood disorders, substance abuse, and delinquency. (pp. 299-328). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PF 18) | |
| This chapter addresses the need for preventive intervention research, particularly in rural populations, and proposes a framework for rural prevention based on the “preventive intervention research cycle” as presented by the Institute of Medicine ([IOM], 1994). In summary, the five phases of the intervention research cycle are (a) identifying the problem and determining its distribution in the target population;(b) reviewing relevant etiological data on risk and protective factors;(c) conducting pilot, confirmatory, and replication studies of the intervention; (d) conducting large-scale field studies of the intervention’s effectiveness; and (e) facilitating large-scale intervention implementation. To address several intervention research needs important to the investigation of universal prevention programs for rural families, this chapter (a) presents findings from a project that incorporates large-scale, controlled studies of theory-based, universal family skills programs offered to rural populations;(b) illustrates several consumer research studies and a prospective investigation of participation predictors designed to evaluate factors associated with variations in rural population response to recruitment activities; (c) incorporates a discussion of the need for the study of variations in responses to prevention efforts in the targeted rural populations and also presents models illustrating the examination of a range of factors influencing varying rural family outcomes. Consistent with the problem identification and knowledge-base review phases of the preventive intervention research cycle, this chapter begins with a review of the need for prevention research targeting rural families (Phase 1), a brief summary of family-related etiological factors, including recent rural family research conducted at our Center (Phase 2), an overview of project procedures and rural implementation strategies (Phases 3 and 4), and presents studies used during Phases 3 and 4 to examine rural family characteristics influencing response to project recruitment strategies and to the project interventions. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Hockaday, C., & Shin, C. (1996). Barriers to participation in family skills preventive interventions and their evaluations: A replication and extension. Family Relations, 45(3), 247-254. (PF 20) | |
| This study extends a line of programmatic research on families who decline participation in intervention and assessment components of family-focused prevention projects. Parents responding to a brief telephone interview (N = 459) identified the most important of 28 barriers concerning project assessments, intervention-related time demands and logistic requirements, beliefs and attitudes about interventions, and family member influences. Results demonstrated that several time-related factors, logistic requirements, and family member influences were important barriers. Findings also showed that sociodemographic factors were associated with unfavorable attitudes about interventions and their assessments. Implications for the development of effective recruitment strategies and for future research are presented. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Hockaday, C., & Yoo, S. (1996). Protective factors and young adolescent tendency to abstain from alcohol use: A model using two waves of intervention study data. American Journal of Community Psychology, 24(6), 749-770. (PF 28) | |
| This study employs two waves of data from a family-focused preventive intervention project to test a longitudinal model of the influence of protective factors on young adolescents' tendency toward alcohol abstinence. Prior theoretical and empirical work guided the specification of hypothesized effects of the protective factors of affectional relationship with parents, affiliation with prosocial peers, and mastery-esteem on tendency toward alcohol abstinence. The tested model controlled for preintervention measures and included specified interrelations of protective factors across time. Structural equation analysis indicated that the model fit the data. Two of the hypothesized cross-time effects, however, were not supported. | |
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| Spoth, R., Yoo, S., Kahn, J. H., & Redmond, C. (1996). A model of the effects of protective parent and peer factors on young adolescent alcohol refusal skills. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 16(4), 373-394. (PF 19) | |
| This paper describes the specification and testing of a model of protective parent and peer factors in peer refusal skills. Two modifiable protective factors suggested by relevant research on adolescent substance use--child attachment with parents and association with peers having prosocial norms--were incorporated as independent variables in the model. The effects of parent and child attendance at skills training interventions were also assessed. Covariance structure modeling of data from a sample of 209 families participating in a controlled study of a family-oriented skills intervention was used to test two versions of the model, one version addressing attachment and skills training attendance specific to mothers and one specific to fathers. Following two indicated modifications of the original model, strong fits with the data were achieved for both mother and father versions of the model; hypothesized protective factor effects and skills training effects were significant. | |
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| Rueter, M. A., & Conger, R. D. (1995). Interaction style, problem-solving behavior, and family problem-solving effectiveness. Child Development, 66(1), 98-115. (PF 14) | |
| We proposed that an individual's characteristic style of interaction will predict his or her problem-solving behavior and family problem-solving effectiveness. We test this hypothesis for mothers, fathers, and adolescent boys and girls ( M age = 12.7 years) in 431 rural families using both warm and hostile interaction styles. One set of videotape coders observed a general family discussion and measured interaction style. A year later, another independent set of coders observed a family problem-solving task. Family members reported family problem-solving effectiveness immediately following the problem-solving task. The results indicated that a hostile interaction style directly predicted destructive problem-solving behavior and indirectly predicted family problem-solving effectiveness. A warm interaction style related directly to constructive problem-solving behavior and indirectly to family problem-solving effectiveness. | |
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| Spoth, R., Ramisetty-Mikler, S., & Goldberg, C. J. (1995). Parent reported risk and protective factors for substance use among Iowa elementary and middle school children.Research Monograph Report to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment by the Iowa Department of Public Health. (PF 12) | |
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Part 1 Part 2 Methods Part 3 Findings Part 4 |
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| Spoth, R., Ramisetty-Mikler, S., & Goldberg, C. J. (1995). Teacher perceptions of risk and protective factors for substance use among Iowa K-8 school children.Research Monograph Report to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment by the Iowa Department of Public Health (PF 13) | |
| ABSTRACT NOT AVAILABLE | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1995). Parent motivation to enroll in parenting skills programs: A model of family context and health belief predictors. Journal of Family Psychology, 9(3), 294-310. (PF 11) | |
| This study tests a heuristic model of health belief and family context factors associated with parent inclination to enroll in parenting skills programs. Data were collected from 1,192 rural midwestern parents of fifth graders. Results supported a basic model including health belief constructs derived from the Health Belief Model (perceived teen problem susceptibility, problem severity, program benefits, program barriers) and an expanded model incorporating the indirect effects of several family context variables (household income, parent education, number of children, child problem behaviors, past parenting resource utilization). Although multiple direct and indirect effects of model variables on parents’ inclination to enroll were observed, perceived program benefits, program barriers, and past parenting resource utilization showed the strongest influence on this outcome. Implications for practitioners are discussed. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Haggerty, K., & Ward, T. (1995). A controlled parenting skills outcome study examining individual difference and attendance effects. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57(2), 449-464. (PF 10) | |
| This controlled study addresses several deficiencies noted in prevention-focused parent skills training outcome literature. These include the failure to model effects of individual differences and level of intervention attendance. Conventional ANCOVA analyses of intervention-control group differences on (a) protective parenting behaviors directly targeted by the intervention and (b) general child management skills, in a sample of families residing in an economically stressed rural area (n = 209), showed significant intervention effects on both measures for both mothers and fathers. Results also indicated that both mothers' and fathers' level of intervention attendance and expressed readiness for parenting change were significant predictors of the targeted parenting outcomes, as was parent self-efficacy among mothers. The targeted parenting measure, in turn, significantly affected the general child management outcome, for both mothers and fathers. Finally, findings showed a significant interaction of intervention attendance and intervention-targeted parenting at pretest for fathers; no interaction effects for mothers were found. | |
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| Stubben, J. (1995). American Indian alcohol prevention research: A community advocate's perspective.In US Department of Health and Human Services, The challenge of participatory research: Preventing alcohol-related problems in ethnic communities. (Vol. 3). Washington, DC: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Center for Substance Ab (PF 77) | |
| This chapter is written from the perspective of the American Indian by a community advocate and strategist interested in promoting the prevention of alcohol-related problems in the Indian community. The contents of this paper draw heavily from several sources and represent a synthesis of ideas from: (1) the two preceding papers in this volume on American Indians (May, Thurman); (2) other papers presented at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Working Group on Alcohol Prevention Research in Ethnic Communities held in May 1992 and published in this volume; (3) discussion comments made by a variety of participants at the working group; (4) the experiences and research knowledge of the author, who is an advocate for community-based studies and programs to prevent alcohol-related problems in the American Indian community. In terms of future research, several important dimensions of evaluations will be required. First, culturally competent prevention programs for American Indians have not been submitted to a randomized, controlled efficacy study with long-term follow-up evaluation of the impact of such programs on risk and protective factors for alcohol problems. Second, prior assessment has not measured the impact of the cultural components of prevention programs for American Indians upon these risk and protective factors. Third, there has not been controlled, comprehensive measurement as to the impact of culturally competent drug abuse prevent programs on community perspectives of alcohol misuse. Fourth, there is a need to bring the research and tribal communities closer together in order to be able to accomplish the aforementioned objectives and to develop culturally competent prevention programs based upon culturally relevant research findings. One key way to bring the two communities together is by recruiting culturally competent researchers who have had extensive, long-term contact with the tribal community and are familiar with the local beliefs, culture, norms, practices, traditions, values, language, and socioeconomic conditions of the community. | |
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| Conger, R. D., Rueter, M. A., & Conger, K. J. (1994). The family context of adolescent vulnerability and resilience to alcohol use and abuse. Sociological Studies of Children, 6, 55-86 (PF 7) | |
| In this article, a family context model of adolescent drinking behavior is proposed and evaluated. Recent investigators have suggested that the dynamics of family life during childhood and early adolescence play an important role in promoting a developmental trajectory that either (1) fosters competencies of youth that reduce the probability of associating with deviant friends, or (2) intensifies antisocial behaviors, which increase the likelihood of entering into relationships with similar peers. According to this conceptual framework, early disruptions in family life lead to the types of peer associations that increase the risk of developmental problems for youth. Drawing on this perspective, the family context model is designed to identify the family precursors of early-onset drinking behavior among adolescents. This model is based on several theoretical perspectives: (1) exogenous variables and stressors (i.e. financial problems) are particularly potent to adolescent development; (2) social learning theory postulates that adolescents will emulate behaviors of older family members, both parents and siblings; (3) a long history of research regarding parental influences on adolescent deviance has identified specific domains of parenting that either exacerbate antisocial behavior or fail to control its expression. In general, the results of this study are consistent with previous research and the correlations fit the theoretical model. The strongest effects occurred for the model involving harsh, inconsistent parenting behaviors. Economic pressure was significantly related to both mother’s and father’s hostile, inconsistent behaviors toward their seventh grade child. As expected parenting behaviors were generally related to adolescent alcohol use. Adversive parenting style significantly predicted drinking frequency and problems for seventh graders. Older sibling alcohol use was also associated with younger sibling drinking. In general, economic pressure had a greater influence on parenting than parents’ drinking problems, reinforcing the hypothesis that socioeconomic conditions would play a major role in increasing developmental risks for early adolescents. | |
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| Dodge, K. (1994). Changes in parents' perceptions of their parenting self-efficacy as a result of exposure to a parenting training intervention.Unpublished manuscript (PF 9) | |
| The first goal of this paper was to assess the efficacy of a parent training intervention in raising parenting self-efficacy when compared to the wait list control group. Self-efficacy theory (Bandura,1986) suggests that an increase in parenting self-efficacy should be found relative to a control group after exposure to a parent training intervention, especially parenting self-efficacy for the specific skills that were addressed in the intervention. The second goal of this study was to assess the extent to which parents’ pre-intervention perceptions of the threat (severity and susceptibility combined) of their child to develop problem behaviors mediate changes in parenting self-efficacy. Existing health behavior research and the Health Belief Model (Janz & Becker, 1984) suggest that higher levels of perceived threat should be related to higher increases in parenting self-efficacy. The third goal of this paper was to examine the relationships between sociodemographic factors (e.g., parents’ education and family income) and differential changes in parenting self-efficacy and parents’ perceptions of threat. The intervention used in this study was the Preparing for the Drug (Free) Years program (PDY), which is a five-session, skill-focused, multimedia intervention designed to address key factors for the development of adolescent drug use and abuse. This study found that parenting self-efficacy was modestly increased for the intervention group when compared to their own pre-test levels of parenting self-efficacy, but not when compared to a wait-list control group. Also, results showed an inverse relationship between threat and pre-intervention levels of parenting self-efficacy—higher levels of parenting self-efficacy lead to lower perceptions of child susceptibility for the development of problem behavior. Sociodemographic variables were not strongly related toeither of the parenting self-efficacy scales and showed only a slightly stronger relationship to threat. Lastly, neither sociodemographics nor threat was linked to the modest changes in parenting self-efficacy. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1994). Effective recruitment of parents into family-focused prevention research: A comparison of two strategies. Psychology and Health: An International Journal, 9(5), 353-370. (PF 8) | |
| Recent literature highlights the need for more effective recruitment and retention strategies in prevention research. This article reports an investigation of the effectiveness of two recruitment strategies for a family-focused substance abuse prevention study. The first strategy offered prospective participants two points at which they could make a decision about their level of involvement in the research project and required only a limited initial time commitment. The second strategy required an initial commitment to participate in all phases of the project. The investigation was conducted with 208 rural families participating in the pilot phase of a five-year prevention study. There were three primary findings. First, both strategies were effective, yielding higher recruitment rates than would be predicted from relevant literature. Second, the strategy requiring a limited time commitment showed significantly higher rates of recruitment into the pretest, but was associated with significantly lower posttest retention rates. Third, data trends emerged but there were no statistically significant differences between the two recruitment strategy groups across a range of intervention participation indicators. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Conroy, S. (1993). Survey of prevention-relevant beliefs and efforts to enhance parenting skills among rural parents. The Journal of Rural Health, 9(3), 227-239. (PF 3) | |
| The first objective of this article is to summarize literature on selected variables that can influence parents' efforts to enhance their parenting skills, including participation in prevention-oriented education and skills-training programs. The second objective is to report the results of a survey of rural parents with preadolescents (N=203) on prevention-relevant parenting beliefs and past parenting enhancement efforts, such as parent education program attendance. Descriptive analyses of these variables and their relationships to socioeconomic status and family composition are reported. Results regarding prevention-relevant parenting beliefs indicate relatively low levels of perceived susceptibility to adolescent problem behaviors and high levels of perceived parent efficacy in prevention adolescent problems. high levels of past parenting enhancement efforts also were reported. Little evidence of gender differences on the parenting belief and enhancement variables was found, but education, income, and family structure and composition variables were significantly associated with several key parenting belief and enhancement variables. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Molgaard, V. (1993). Consumer-focused data collection in prevention program evaluation: Rationale and illustrations. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 16(3), 278-294. (PF 4) | |
| This article presents a rationale for consumer-focused data collection at multiple points in the process of prevention program evaluation. Recommended procedures include data collection on consumer responses to various recruitment strategies and consumer preferences for specific program delivery features. Following the general rationale for use of these procedures, a summary description of their relationship with existing approaches to program evaluation is presented. Finally, illustrations of consumer-focused data collection procedures applied during several phases of an ongoing program evaluation project are provided. | |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1993). Identifying program preferences through conjoint analysis: Illustrative results from a parent sample. American Journal of Health Promotion, 8(2), 124-133. (PF 1) | |
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Purpose. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the application of a consumer research technique called conjoint analysis using data from a survey of parents' preferences for prevention programs. Design. This study utilized a one-time, cross-sectional telephone survey. Setting. Data were collected from subjects living in economically disadvantaged rural midwestern counties. Subjects. Subjects were 202 randomly selected parents with preadolescents who indicated interest in family-focused prevention programs. Measures. Conjoint analysis software was employed in computer assisted telephone interviews to evaluate relative preferences for 39 individual features of family-focused prevention programs falling under 11 categories (e.g., program meeting time, facilitator background). The software also guided computer simulations of parent choices among four types of programs. Results. Findings indicated that meeting time was the most important category of program features. Strongly preferred individual features included meetings scheduled on weekday evenings, instruction by child development specialists, and programs based on extensive research. Two multiple-session programs evaluated via computer simulations incorporated several preferred features and received higher ratings than did single-session programs. Estimated variance z-tests indicated limited differences in perceived importance of program feature categories across sociodemographic subgroups. Conclusions. Findings highlight (a) differences in the relative value parents place on various features of prevention programs in the surveyed population and (b) the importance of practical aspects of program delivery. |
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| Spoth, R., & Redmond, C. (1993). Study of participation barriers in family-focused prevention: Research issues and preliminary results. International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 13(4), 365-388. (PF 2) | |
| There is a growing body of literature which argues for more research on barriers to participation in family-focused interventions, particularly among at-risk families. Following a review of research needs and issues suggested by the literature, this article presents results from a study which 1) evaluates reasons for decisions against participation in a family-focused prevention intervention project and 2) compares characteristics of intervention project participants with those of non-participants. Data on reasons for refusing participation were collected from non-participants during a recruitment telephone interview and via a mail survey. Results indicated that the most frequent reasons given for decisions against participation concerned intervention time demands and research-related requirements such as videotaping. There were no significant differences between participants and non-participants on any sociodemographic variables. Analyses of the relationships between reasons for participation refusal and sociodemographic subgroupings of non-participants, however, suggested that variations exist among these subgroups. Overall, results highlight the feasibility and importance of data collection on intervention project non-participants, both to clarify potential participation barriers and to gather data on sample representativeness. | |
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| Spoth, R., Redmond, C., Yoo, S., & Dodge, K. (1993). Sociodemographic factors and parent beliefs relevant to the prevention of adolescent behavior problems. Family Perspective, 27(3), 285-303. (PF 6) | |
| This study evaluates the influence of sociodemographic factors on parenting beliefs about the prevention of adolescent problem behaviors. Subjects were 202 parents with preadolescent children residing in an economically stressed rural area. Covariance structure analyses examined the role of socioeconomic and family structure/composition variables in explaining parents' beliefs about susceptibility to behavior problems and parents' efficacy in preventing such problems. Predictor variables included were parent's educational attainment, family income, experience raising teen children, family structure, and preadolescent child gender. Results supported a preliminary model incorporating all five sociodemographic factors; findings also showed stronger support for a more parsimonious model. | |
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| Yoo, S., & Spoth, R. (1993). An alternative method for sample size determination in substance misuse prevention research. International Journal of the Addictions, 28(11), 1085-1094. (PF 5) | |
| There is considerable evidence that social science researchers often fail to adequately address statistical power and related sample size issues. This tendency has been particularly salient in substance misuse prevention research. Although failure to carefully address statistical power and sample size issues most frequently results in studies lacking statistical power, other problems can also occur. For example, sample size determination in controlled studies which focus on rates of substance initiation and similar measures require close consideration of baseline rates indicated by these measures. Otherwise, when conventional procedures for sample size determination are utilized, samples in these studies can exceed the size necessary for predesignated levels of power. This article presents a simple alternative to conventional procedures for sample size determination which can be applied to controlled study of substance initiation and similar outcomes. | |
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