This study evaluated the effectiveness of the real life cost model (RLCM), an educational, cognitive-behavioral, skill building approach with early adolescents. Based on developmental and social learning theories, the model addresses the lack of cognitive-behavioral, skill building early intervention models for adolescents, ages 11-13. It attends to the developmental level of the target group and teaches social and cognitive skills that promote staying in school, abstinence related to drugs, alcohol, and early sexual involvement, and educates about the "real life" economic and social costs or consequences for teen mother, teen father, and child. / A total of 74 male and female, ethnically diverse students were selected from two middle schools and randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group at each school using a pretest-posttest control group design with one follow-up. Scores from the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (N-SLCS), Means-Ends Problem-Solving (MEPS), Hare Self-Esteem (HSS), and the Pregnancy Cost Knowledge Questionnaire (PCKQ) were used to assess subjects' cognitive-behavioral changes at posttest, and 8 week follow-up. To ensure group equivalency prior to treatment, the pretest scores were analyzed for group differences. / Improvement in locus of control, problem-solving and knowledge of pregnancy costs at posttest and 8 week follow-up were found for the treatment groups but not the control groups. Experimental group scores on a self-esteem measure showed improvement at posttest; these changes did not maintain significance at follow-up. Additional findings using role plays showed improved decision-making skills. / These findings provide evidence that this school-based educational, cognitive-behavioral treatment program produced significant changes in the treatment subjects' perceptions of locus of control, self-esteem, problem-solving/decision-making skills, and knowledge of costs associated with an unintended pregnancy. / The utility of this treatment modality is discussed and implications for social work research and practice are considered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: A, page: 4085. / Major Professor: Dianne Harrison Montgomery. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76791 |
| Contributors | Jarmon, Brenda., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 210 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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