Disparities between the substance use rates of sexual or gender minority (SGM) youth and the rates of youth identifying as heterosexual (i.e., attracted to the opposite sex) and cisgender (i.e., gender identity corresponds to birth sex) have given rise to calls for 1) research to understand the specific risk and protective factors relating to substance use in SGM youth and 2) the development of corresponding intervention programming In three papers, this dissertation explores predictors for substance use among SGM youth and describes methods of targeted recruitment for a prevention intervention program tailored to SGM youth. In the first paper, comparing the contributing factors of substance use between sexual minority and heterosexual youth revealed that although many predictors were associated with use in both groups, sadness, suicidal ideation, difficulty concentrating, and forced sexual encounters were the most consistent and substantial contributors to the explanation of the difference in use rates between groups. In the second paper, risk and protective factors identified from social learning theory and minority stress theory, including perceived stress, problem-solving skills, self-esteem, self-efficacy, substance refusal skills, and peer use of substance, were generally associated with past-month substance use. Peer use of substance and substance refusal skills, in particular, were consistently and robustly associated with substance use in the sample of SGM youth, and their intersection provides insight into themes to address in future intervention development. Issues of disclosure and parental permission have made recruiting representative samples of SGM youth challenging, and the third paper offers insight into an inexpensive and time-efficient means of recruiting SGM youth for participation in such research. The specificity with which Facebook ads can be targeted to hard-to-reach populations makes it a preferred tool for researchers who seek to recruit SGM youth. Taken together, the three papers of this dissertation can serve as a guide for the development and execution of substance use prevention research that is tailored to the specific needs of SGM youth.

The status of athletic department ATOD policies has received limited attention. Few studies have examined the extent to which athletic trainers are currently involved in developing and revising their drug education and prevention policies. This study compared the perceptions of head athletic trainers from NCAA member Divisions I, II and III toward the status of their current ATOD policies and what they would ideally like to see in their athletic departments. Policy issues were related to each of the following four domains, 1) policy implementation; 2) educational programs; 3) ATOD policy enforcement; 4) athletic trainer participation in developing and evaluating ATOD policies. A web-based questionnaire was designed to collect data. Responses were collected from (353) head athletic trainers at three NCAA member institutions. Conveying ATOD policies to visiting student athletes related to the use of drugs banned by the NCAA during recruitment visits was the highest priority among HATS in three NCAA divisions. Athletic trainers from all divisions wanted to see ATOD education programs scheduled closer to athletic events when the potential for drug use could increase. Drug enforcement policies related to the consequences of testing positive for using a banned drug after a second or a third time by athletes was a high priority for Division I and III HATS. Division II trainers reported that mandatory drug testing was also a high priority. More Division I NCAA member institutions had evaluated their ATOD policies during the past year compared to Division I and III members. Participation in developing and revising athletic department and team ATOD policies was an important priority for head athletic trainers. HATS who were more involved in developing ATOD policies mentioned that they gained a better understanding of drug abuse and drug testing issues when they were part of their athletic departments' policy making process. / Graduation date: 2004

The importance and use of data and information to make sound programmatic decisions are receiving increased attention as state and federal funding for public health programs grows tighter and as demands for accountability continue. This dissertation provides insight into fundamental questions regarding the utilization of a Web-based reporting system on knowledge management practices for Tobacco Prevention Programs and examines what happened in Texas after the merger of the Tobacco Prevention Program into the Substance Abuse Prevention Program. A phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore meaning of actions and to identify common themes as they relate to information sharing and utilization of Texas’ Program Management and Tracking System (PMATS). Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted. First, core functions of PMATS are examined through the experiences of its end-users; and second, the impact of the merger on retention and use of PMATS within the Department of State Health Services is explored. Four themes were identified as they relate to core functions of PMATS, including its use as a codification system, its use to track performance measures, and its use for report generation and for programmatic decision-making. These four primary uses of PMATS remained the same pre- and post- merger, although how the systems were utilized during these periods differed. A central theme that permeated all interviews was the impact of the merger of the Tobacco Control Program into the Substance Abuse Program on individual beliefs and attitudes (i.e., job security, low morale, etc.), on systems characteristics (i.e. feedback, internal reporting structures, etc.), and on organizational culture (i.e., training, leadership, etc.). Since entering into PMATS was contractually required, individual attitudes and beliefs did not impact use of PMATS. However, competing IT systems, lack of a champion, lack of knowledge and support by upper management, and lack of communication were identified as key influences on systems characteristics and on organizational culture, which ultimately contributed to the termination of PMATS. Both applied research and practice recommendations are discussed, including IT due diligence, creating a knowledge culture, and network analysis of information sharing practices. / text

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

No description available.

Confidants' non supportive reactions to disclosure in child sexual abuse constitutes an extensive and significant problem and is associated with a variety of negative consequences: (a) Victims do not receive adequate support or intervention and are left vulnerable to further victimization, (b) non-supportive intra-familial confidants are at greater risk of having their children removed, and (c) the justice system is rendered ineffective by the associated lack of police reporting. This study examined the extent of non-supportive disclosure and the factors associated with such reactions in a sample of 856 cases of child sexual abuse (796 girls and 60 boys) reported in the North Durban policing area of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) in the period January 2001 to December 2003. Of the various agents identified as having provided non-supportive reactions, three categories of non-supportive confidants emerged: namely family members, professional persons, and community members in their respective order of significance. Hierarchical cluster analysis of disclosure variables identified two broad homogenous groups (clusters) of cases of non-'supportive disclosure ("Incestuous Abuse Disclosed Within the Family", and "Extra-familial Abuse Disclosed Outside of the Family"). Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that cluster membership was meaningfully predicted by the three measure of consanguinity included in the analysis, but not significantly related to other abuse related variables. Furthermore, in cases of extra-familial abuse, nonsupportive disclosure was significantly more likely when (a) victims were below the age of twelve years, (b) no violence was used by the offender, and (c) the confidant was not related to the victim. The implications of the findings for secondary prevention and for future research are discussed in detail in this article. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

Informacijos apie narkotines medžiagas ir jų keliamą pavojų yra labai daug, tačiau iškyla klausimas, ar minėta informacija išaiškinama mokiniams, ar mokykloje atliekamos prevencijos priemonės prieš narkomanijos plitimą yra efektyvios. Taip pat labai svarbu žinoti, kaip tas pačias prevencijos priemones mokykloje vertina mokiniai, jų tėvai ir mokytojai, nes siekiant veiksmingai vykdyti narkotikų vartojimo prevenciją būtina derinti visų atsakingųjų pusių nuomonę. Atlikta daug įvairių tyrimų, tačiau mažai dėmesio skiriama tyrimams, kokios yra mokykloje taikomos prevencijos priemonės ir kaip jas vertina mokiniai, jų tėvai ir mokytojai. / While conducting preventive activities, it is worth to find out not only the schoolchildren, their parents and school teachers attitudes towards the preventive measures of a preventive job opportunities and organizing activities to be taken into account. As well as the preventive work is important to involve young people themselves in this way, students will feel useful, contributing to the overall performance, which will only achieve even better results.

BABES (Beginning Alcohol and Addictions Basic Education Studies) is a drug and alcohol prevention program designed to provide children with un-biased, non-judgemental information concerning alcohol and drug use. The program includes elements of social skills training and empowers children to make informed decisions.The purpose of this study was three-fold: to study the reliability of the BABES instrument, to investigate the effectiveness of the BABES program by administering the BABES instrument and to determine how children's knowledge levels were affected by the program.One hundred and five children were randomly selected from two local day care centers and from Head Start of Delaware County, Indiana. Consents were obtained for 61 children. Preschoolers from Head Start children and from one of the day care centers completed the Pre-Attitude Assessment Inventory and the BABES test. The Pre-AAI was administered prior to BABES and immediately following the prevention program, whereas the BABES test was given at both of those times and also during a two-week follow-up assessment. Children from the other day care center were utilized to check the reliability of the BABES instrument. They received the BABES test two times.A MANOVA was used to analyze the pre, post-test, and follow-up scores on the BABES test. In addition, difference scores were calculated for the Pre-AAI to determine if a knowledge gain was present, and finally, a Pearson R correlation was conducted to determine the test-retest reliability of the BABES instrument.The results showed that the BABES instrument appears to be a fairly reliable instrument and that the children participating in BABES learned more AOD related concepts as presented in BABES than those children who were not exposed to the prevention program. However, children in the experimental group also experienced a negative knowledge gain of different types and/or behaviors associated with AODs. / Institute for Wellness

The author conducted a case study for analysis of the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) "Youth Protection" campaign, a social action campaign, developed to increase awareness and educate members on how to prevent, identify, and deal with child sexual abuse (Scoutmaster Handbook, 1990; "Unacceptables Relevancy Program," 1985).The author looked for evidence of Bandura's social cognitive theory in the campaign by identifying the following elements of the theory: observational learning, modeling, enactive learning, and symbols, in campaign artifacts (Bandura, 1977).The author sought to suggest the use of Bandura's social cognitive theory in the formative research of social action campaigns and to help public relations planners in nonprofit organizations in understanding how social action campaign messages incorporating Bandura's social cognitive theory could be presented and transmitted.Procedures began with an examination of BSA organizational and "Youth Protection" campaign artifacts, supplemented by an interview with Lawrence Potts, Administrative Group Director of the BSA, who was responsible for the development of the campaign, followed by an analysis of the campaign for evidence of Bandura's social cognitive theory.The author followed Miles and Huberman's (1994) guidelines for addressing reliability and validity.The following elements of Bandura's social cognitive theory: observational learning, modeling, enactive learning, and symbols were evident in the campaign. Observational learning, modeling, and imaginal symbols were seen in two of the videos. Enactive learning was identified in a booklet. Verbal symbols were seen in various campaign artifacts. No single artifact was identified as containing all of the elements of the theory. Campaign artifacts targeted to youth contained the most elements. Symbols were identified in all artifacts targeted to youth but only the videos showed observational learning and modeling.The author's recommendations for improving the campaign would be to use observational learning, modeling, and enactive learning for encouraging the desired behaviors and skills of the volunteer leaders and parents, in a similar way these elements were part of the artifacts targeted to youth.Campaign artifacts targeted to volunteer leaders and parents provided a great deal of information about child sexual abuse, but often the information was only stated or printed, rather than coded into verbal or imaginal symbols and demonstrated through observational learning, modeling, or enactive learning. The author would also recommend verbal and imaginal symbols be used to help volunteer leaders and parents remember information about child sexual abuse.The boys serving as models in two of the videos only appeared in these artifacts. The author would further recommend these models be used in all campaign artifacts targeted to youth.Limitations of the study included the legitimacy of qualitative research, that the study may not be considered a case study in the strictest sense, and that BSA campaign planners did not intentionally incorporate elements of Bandura's social cognitive theory in their "Youth Protection" campaign, although elements of the theory were identified in campaign artifacts.Further research on the BSA's "Youth Protection" campaign should be to evaluate its effectiveness. / Department of Journalism

The problem of drugs in Oman has assumed serious proportions in recent years. It leads to creation of an underground economy and is associated with loss of skilled manpower. However, the problem has several dimensions. It has direct and indirect adverse effects. In response to increases in both worldwide drug production and drug demand in Oman, law makers in Oman instituted legal measures designed to protect the health, welfare and finance of people from the effects of drug use. In addition, law makers in Oman have recognized that trade in illicit drugs is a global activity and that drug-related activities are associated with other criminal behaviour; therefore they have tried to honour the spirit of international conventions related to drug control. Thus, the Drug Act No. 17 was passed in March 1999 and came into force on 6th April 1999, to regulate the procedures regarding the trafficking and trade of drugs in Oman. The most striking feature of the new law is a 'death penalty. The death penalty would be applied to those charged with drug trafficking and smuggling, as laid down in article No 43. Therefore, the question is can the death penalty deter criminals from committing trafficking and smuggling in drugs? No research has been done to examine the effect of the new drug law in Oman. This thesis aims to fill that gap and investigate the impact of the new drugs law in Oman. Data collection for the study was carried out using three methods: questionnaire, semi-structured interview and documentary data from police files before and after the introduction of the death penalty for the period from 1st April 1996 to 31st March 2002. The total period covered was 72 months. Statistical reports and other research papers carried out in Oman and other countries were also reviewed. The results of testing a number of hypotheses indicated that since the introduction of the death penalty for drug offences, the numbers of drug arrests and the incidence of violence related to drug offences have increased. In addition, the smuggling of drugs by sea has increased. Moreover, heroin trafficking has increased since the introduction of the death penalty. The study found that there is a lack of knowledge about drugs (the types of drugs, punishment, addictions treatment and belief about drug effects) among both groups of participants, drug offenders and non-drug offenders. Finally, the findings of this study indicate that the introduction of the death penalty in Oman does not deter drug offenders from involvement in drug related offences in general and drug trafficking offences in particular.