Search

The present study examined parenting style dimensions (demandingness and responsiveness) as predictors of adolescent drug use and also evaluated whether parenting styles dimensions moderate the effects of the implemented prevention program. 6.391 students in the 7th and 8th grades at 72 Brazilian public schools participated in a three-wave randomized controlled trial to evaluate a school drug-use prevention program. We used structural equation modeling to test if baseline parenting style dimensions (demandingness and responsiveness) would predict the use of drugs (alcohol, binge drinking, cannabis, inhalants, and tobacco) after 21 months. Additionally, we evaluated an interaction version of the above-described model to test if the effect of the prevention program would be moderated by either or both parenting style dimensions. Higher levels of parent demandingness predicted lower chances of adolescent drug use (e.g., Cigarette use OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64–0.89); responsiveness on the five outcomes showed p value superior to 0.01. The effect of the #Tamojunto intervention is unlikely to be conditioned to either parenting style dimensions on the assessed outcomes. Clinical trial registration Brazilian Register of Clinical Trials (REBEC): #RBR-4mnv5g (https://www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/?q=tamojunto). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 2014 with 7th and 8th grade students from 72 public schools in 6 Brazilian cities. This trial aimed to evaluate the effects of an adapted European school-based drug prevention program Unplugged, called #Tamojunto in Brazil, which was implemented by the Ministry of Health as part of public policy. The experimental group (n = 3340) attended 12 classes in the #Tamojunto program, and the control group (n = 3318) did not receive a school prevention program. Baseline data were collected prior to program implementation, and follow-up data were collected 9 months later, allowing a matching of 4213 adolescents in both waves. The substances examined were alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants, cocaine, and crack. Multilevel analyses were used to evaluate the changes in consumption of each drug between time points and between groups. The intervention and control groups had similar baseline characteristics. The mean age of the adolescents was 12.5 ± 0.7 years, and 51.3% were female. The program seemed to increase alcohol use initiation (first alcohol use); students in the experimental group had a 30% increased risk of initiating alcohol use during the 9-month follow-up (aRR = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.13-1.49, p < 0.001) compared to the control group. The opposite was found for the first inhalant use: the risk of using inhalants for the first time after baseline was lower in the experimental group (aRR = 0.78, 95%CI 0.63-0.96, p = 0.021) than the control group. The results of the #Tamojunto program suggest that the content and lessons regarding alcohol may enhance curiosity about its use among adolescents. We suggest a re-evaluation of the expansion of the #Tamojunto program in schools while analyzing why the program's effects were inconsistent with those of previous European studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]