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Running Header: Course Project Part III

Course Project Part III

Jonathan Bland
Issues in Public Health
Professor Aqueelah Barrie

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Running Header: Course Project Part III

I found that according to the NIH News that there was a study for alcohol and drug
prevention for teens in rural Georgia. This study followed 641 families with similar
demographic characteristics. 291 families in the control group were given weekly
mailings of health-related information. 350 were assigned to the SAAF program, in
which parents and children participated in seven consecutive weeks of two-hour
prevention sessions. The parents learned about effective caregiving strategies that
included monitoring, emotional support, family communication, and handling racial
discrimination, which can contribute to substance abuse. The children were taught how
to set and attain positive goals, deal with peer pressure and stress, and avoid risky
activities (Beach, 2009). They found that the prevention program especially beneficial
for children with a genetic risk factor tied to risky behaviors.
In another group based out of New York, they studied ethnically and racially
heterogeneous adolescents. They were recruited from the community-based agencies.
One group of students was the control and the other was the test subjects in which they
received supplemental materials by mail. The test subjects were given 10-session
alcohol abuse prevention program. After seven years following post-intervention testing
and relative to control-arm youths, the youths that were in the 10-session program
showed less alcohol, cigarette use, binge drinking, and peer pressure to drink; fewer
drinking friends; greater refusal of alcohol use opportunities; and lower intentions to
drink. (Schinke, 2010) The study participants were 513 early adolescent girls and boys.

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The next program I researched was from Phoenix, Arizona. They started with a
sample population of 4,622 middle school students. Most of the students were of the
same geographical and demographic profile. The keepin it REAL program was
demonstrated to be effective in delaying or reducing use of alcohol, cigarettes and
marijuana, and in strengthening antidrug use norms and attitudes (see Hecht et al.,
2003, for details of the program, the randomized trial, and the results demonstrating its
efficacy). The program was particularly effective in preventing initiation of alcohol use
the most commonly used substance among youth in the trial. Based on its
demonstrated prevention effectiveness, keepin it REAL was recognized as a model
program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This
program curriculum consists of 10 lessons promoting antidrug norms and teaching
resistance and other social skills, reinforced by booster activities and a media
campaign. Three versions were delivered: Mexican American, combined African
American and European American, and Multicultural. They found that the number of
children that took the course were less likely to be involved in alcohol when they grew
into teenagers. (Yabiku & Kulis, 2011).
These were all primary interventions with the 10 lessons. The mailing for the control
group would primarily be secondary interventions. Most of the programs varied a little,
each one had a main goal of getting the children young and teaching them about
alcohol at a young age, this gives them something to think about as they grow up. It
also gives them a reason to say NO to drinking.

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Works Cited
Beach, B. G. (2009, May 15). Prevention Program Helps Teens Override a Gene Linked to Risky Behavior.
Retrieved April 22, 2011, from NIH News National Institutes of Health:
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/NewsEvents/NewsReleases/Pages/teen_gene_linked.aspx

Schinke, S. P. (2010, Jan 13). Longitudinal Outcomes of an Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program for Urban
Adolescents. Retrieved April 22, 2011, from NIH Public Access:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859450/?tool=pmcentrez

Yabiku, S., & Kulis, S. (2011, March 1). Neighborhood Effects on the Efficacy of a Program to Prevent
Youth Alcohol Use. Retrieved April 22, 2011, from NIH Public Access:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046879/?tool=pmcentrez