No description available.

No description available.

This dissertation explored a number of themes associated with adolescent drug and alcohol prevention among culturally diverse Northern Australian adolescents. It was undertaken because important differences are often associated with specific cultural groups and local knowledge is often needed as a means of informing effective prevention programs. Five studies are presented, each, with its own hypotheses, results and conclusions that examine influences on the common dependent variable of adolescent substance use. In consultation with teachers a new universal school-based drug and alcohol prevention program was developed addressing the four most commonly used substances among Australian adolescents, namely alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and inhalants. The program was predicated on the social influence and alcohol harm minimisation models and was successful in reducing alcohol initiation and increasing cannabis and inhalant refusal self-efficacy among non-initiates. Program delivery is equally as important and program content and prevention programs utilising interactive teaching have been found to be more effective in preventing adolescent substance use than those delivered in a didactic or non-interactive style. The implementation evaluation found that teachers delivered less of the interactive program contents (49%) compared with the non-interactive components (84%). Quality of program delivery may have explained the limited efficacy of the school program to reduce cigarette use and to deter use among those who had already initiated substance use. Additionally three descriptive studies explored variables representing risk and protection for adolescent substance use. Key finding were that cultural identity was observed to be protective of both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous alcohol initiation but was associated with risk for Indigenous youth who had any number of drinking friends; that drinking parents had a strong direct effect on adolescent drinking independent of friends’ use; and a lack of school connectedness was associated with increased adolescent smoking and drinking. This dissertation demonstrated that a school drug education program in its self cannot effectively prevent adolescent drug use. While improvements can be made to current teaching practices, school curricula need to be supplemented with multi-modal programs that aim to selectively reduce parental substance use and improve the school experience for all students.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28). Also available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28).

The present study is designed to address the problem of risk behaviors among adolescents, in an effort to promote positive developmental trajectories. Previous studies have resulted in divergent findings pertaining to the predictors of adolescent engagement in risk behaviors. In addition to considering this divergence, the focus of the study is the nature of bidirectional individual ó contextual relationships and their influence on adolescent engagement in risk behaviors. The study tested two models that considered whether parent-adolescent relationship or peer relationship mediated the relation between theory and research-based predictors and the endogenous variable, co-occurring substance use and sexual activity. Participants were 396 demographically diverse multi-problem adolescents from an archived dataset derived from an HIV risk reduction outpatient treatment program for alcohol and other drug use. Participants responded to questions that measured family structure, parent-adolescent relationship quality and communication, religiosity, school connectedness, peer relationship, and engagement in substance use and sexual activity. The study found that the model with peer relationship as the mediator fit the data better than the model with the parent-adolescent relationship mediator, and that the mediated model provided a better fit to the data than direct relations between the exogenous and endogenous variables. The results suggested also that primary caregiver was not a significant predictor of adolescent participation in co-occurring substance use and sexual activity. The present study provides a holistic theoretical and conceptual framework that highlights a constellation of factors determined to contribute significantly to co-occurring substance use and sexual activity, and thereby reshape existing models of risk behavior among adolescents.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

As social technologies become more integrated into students’ lives, new means of communication have emerged, along with novel problem behaviors with significant consequences for students’ well-being. One of these is the sending of sexualized images via cell phone, referred to as “sexting”. An understanding of how and why some students choose to sext is important for schools to appropriately prepare for sexting-related incidents. This study explored some of the personal and environmental correlates of the behavior, including gender, thrill-seeking, impulsivity, perceived school experience, and related attitudes about the normalcy and risk of the behavior. Participants were college undergraduates from a large urban university, retrospectively reporting about their high school experience. Results indicated that the majority of students did not send sexts in high school. However, of those who did, students who sexted exclusively with romantic partners had significantly more positive engagement in school. Students with lower feelings of connectedness, academic motivation, and social belonging in high school tended to sext in riskier ways. Additionally, recent high school graduates were asked if and how schools should effectively educate students about the risks of sexting. These perspectives were assessed through survey questions and a focus group discussion session. Results suggested that students do recognize the potential consequences of the behavior, regardless of what teachers tell them. They feel that, rather than using “scare tactics”, school personnel should try to understand the social and relational context in which the behavior occurs. Limitations of this research are discussed, along with implications and recommendation for practice and future research. / School Psychology