1. Using the Preparation Phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy to Design an Antiextremism Program in Bahrain: Formative and Pilot Research
- Author
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Kelly Rulison, GracieLee Weaver, Jeffrey Milroy, Emily Beamon, Samantha Kelly, Ali Ameeni, Amina Juma, Fadhel Abualgasim, Jaafar Husain, and David Wyrick
- Subjects
Medicine - Abstract
BackgroundExtremism continues to raise concerns about conflict and violent attacks that can lead to deaths, injuries, trauma, and stress. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to radicalization by extremists. Given its location in a region that often experiences extremism, Bahrain developed 4 peaceful coexistence lessons and 4 antiextremism lessons to be implemented as part of their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to report the results of the preparation phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to develop a peaceful coexistence program and an antiextremism program implemented by D.A.R.E. officers in Bahrain. MethodsWe developed conceptual models for the peaceful coexistence and antiextremism programs, indicating which mediators each lesson should target, the proximal outcomes that should be shaped by these mediators, and the distal and ultimate outcomes that the intervention should change. We recruited 20 middle schools to pilot test our research protocol, survey measures, and the existing intervention lessons. A total of 854 seventh and ninth grade students completed a pretest survey, 4 peaceful coexistence intervention lessons, and an immediate posttest survey; and a total of 495 ninth grade students completed the pretest survey, 4 antiextremism lessons, and an immediate posttest survey. A series of 3-level models, nesting students within classrooms within schools, tested mean differences from pretest to posttest. ResultsPilot test results indicated that most measures had adequate reliability and provided promising evidence that the existing lessons could change some of the targeted mediators and proximal outcomes. Specifically, students who completed the peaceful coexistence lessons reported significant changes in 5 targeted mediating variables (eg, injunctive norms about intolerance, P
- Published
- 2024
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