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Objectives: Girls' rates of drug use have met up with and, in some instances, surpassed boys' rates. Although girls and boys share risk and protective factors associated with drug use, girls also have gender-specific risks. Interventions to prevent girls' drug use must be tailored to address the dynamics of female adolescence. Methods: One such intervention, called RealTeen, is a 9-session, web-based drug abuse prevention program designed to address such gender-specific risk factors associated with young girls' drug use as depressed mood, low self-esteem, and high levels of perceived stress as well as general drug use risk factors of peer and social influences. Web-based delivery enables girls to interact with the program at their own pace and in a location of their choosing. Implications: This article describes the processes and challenges associated with developing and programming a gender-specific, web-based intervention to prevent drug use among adolescent girls.

Intervention research is essential to help Hispanic American adolescents avoid drug use. This article describes an intervention research program aimed at preventing drug use among these youths. Grounded in salient epidemiological data, the program is informed by bicultural competence, social learning, and motivational interviewing theories. The program, called Vamos, is aimed at the risk and protective factors as well as the cultural prerogatives that demark the adolescent years of Hispanic American youths. Innovative in its approach, the program is delivered through a smartphone application (app). By interacting with engaging content presented via the app, youths can acquire the cognitive-behavioral skills necessary to avoid risky situations, urges, and pressures associated with early drug use. The intervention development process is presented in detail, and an evaluation plan to determine the program's efficacy is outlined. Lessons for practice and intervention programming are discussed.

INTRODUCTIONCigarette smoke is an equal opportunity killer. Although health data on American Indian populations are less comprehensive than desirable, it is clear that smoking-related diseases are a major cause of mortality. Because norms in the social environment are crucial in determining behaviors that lead to health or to illness, this paper reports data on policies that Indian agencies have implemented to regulate the personal use of tobacco products within their sites. Also reported are observations at Indian sites showing how policies are expressed.

Peer and parent influences on alcohol use and related risky behaviors were examined in a sample of late-adolescent (M = 17.3 years; SD = 1.11 years) urban youths. Participants (N = 400) completed an online measure assessing peer influences of alcohol use and alcohol offers and also parental influences of rules against alcohol use and perceived levels of emotional family support, relative to youths' alcohol use, binge drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and intentions to drink. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that increased peer alcohol use and alcohol offers were associated with youths' increased drinking, binge drinking, alcohol-related consequences, and intentions to drink. Controlling for peer influences, parental rules against alcohol use were associated with decreased drinking, binge drinking, and intentions to drink; increased levels of family support were associated with decreased alcohol-related consequences and intentions to drink. These findings suggest that parental influences, albeit small relative to peer influences, are associated with fewer instances of monthly alcohol use and related risky behaviors among late-adolescent urban youths.

This study evaluates the efficacy of Keepin' It Safe, a theory-based, gender-specific, CD-ROM-mediated HIV prevention program for urban, early adolescent girls. Intervention effects were examined in a randomized, pretest-posttest wait-list control-group design. Changes in HIV/AIDS knowledge, protective attitudes, and skills for reducing HIV risk-related sexual behaviors were tested using linear regression models that were controlled for baseline values of each outcome. Recruited through youth services agencies located in the greater New York City area, study participants comprised 204 adolescent girls aged 11-14 years. Girls exposed to Keepin' It Safe, relative to wait-list control girls, increased their HIV/AIDS knowledge, perceived efficacy and enjoyment of abstinence, perceived efficacy and enjoyment of condoms, and sexual assertiveness, suggesting that a theory-based, gender-specific, CD-ROM-mediated HIV prevention program can enhance knowledge, protective attitudes, and skills for reducing HIV risk-related sexual behaviors among urban early-adolescent girls.

Reviews treatment needs of dual diagnosed, substance abusing and mentally ill mothers. Suggests treatment strategies and programmatic options for serving and meeting needs of these mothers and their children. Devotes particular attention to residential and continuing care services and skills-based interventions for target clients. Concludes with agenda for further investigations of needs and appropriate services. (Author/PVV)

Reviews cancer and other health and behavioral risks posed to American Indian and Alaska Native people by smoked and smokeless tobacco use. Pays particular attention to psychosocial aspects of tobacco use, including influences of cultural, social, and gender-specific factors. Suggests prevention model based on bicultural competence theory and cognitive and behavioral principles of social learning. (Author/NB)

Tested efficacy of self-instruction intervention to reduce avoidable risks for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection associated with drug use and unsafe sexual activity among African-American and Hispanic adolescents (N=60). Outcome findings indicated that participants in two self-instruction conditions improved more between pretest and posttest assessments on measures of HIV infection risk compared with adolescents in control condition. (Author/NB)

Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of a skills-based CD-ROM intervention, with and without a parent component, to reduce alcohol use among urban youth at 6-year follow-up. Method: At recruitment, 513 youths with a mean age of 10.8 years were randomly assigned to one of three study arms: youth CD-ROM intervention plus parent component, youth CD-ROM intervention only, or control. All youths completed pretest, posttest, and annual follow-up measures. Youths and parents in their respective arms received the initial intervention program between pretest and posttest measures and received booster interventions between each follow-up measure. Results: With 80% sample retention at 6-year follow-up, youths in both intervention arms reported less past-month alcohol and cigarette use and fewer instances of heavy drinking and negative alcohol-related consequences. Despite having similar numbers of drinking peers as youths in the control arm, youths in both intervention arms reported greater alcohol-refusal skills. Only past-month cigarette use differed between the two intervention arms, with youths in the intervention-plus-parent-component arm smoking less than youths in the CD-ROM intervention-only arm. Conclusions: Six years after initial intervention, youths who received a culturally tailored, skills-based prevention program had reduced alcohol use and lower rates of related risky behaviors than youths in the control arm. (J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 71, 535-538, 2010), ALCOHOL IS THE SUBSTANCE OF CHOICE among adolescents in this country and is associated with social, health, and economic problems (Office of the Surgeon General, 2006). Prevention science has responded [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.06.007 Byline: Steven P. Schinke (a), Lin Fang (b), Kristin C. Cole (a) Keywords: Adolescent girls; Substance use; Prevention programming; Family approaches Abstract: This study tested a computerized gender-specific, parent-involvement intervention program grounded in family interaction theory and aimed at preventing substance use among adolescent girls. Following program delivery and 1year later, girls randomly assigned to the intervention arm improved more than girls in a control arm on variables associated with reduced risks for substance use, including communication with their mothers, knowledge of family rules about substance use, awareness of parental monitoring of their discretionary time, non-acceptance of peer substance use, problem-solving skills, and ability to refuse peer pressure to use substances. Relative to control-arm girls, those in the intervention arm also reported less 30-day use of alcohol and marijuana and lower intentions to smoke, drink, and take illicit drugs in the future. Girls' mothers in the intervention arm reported greater improvements after the program and relative to control-arm mothers in their communication with their daughters, establishment of family rules about substance use, and monitoring of their daughters' discretionary time. Study findings lend support to the potential of gender-specific, parent-involvement, and computerized approaches to preventing substance use among adolescent girls. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Social Work, Columbia University, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA (b) Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 1A1

Objective: This study evaluated a gender-specific, computer-mediated intervention program to prevent underage drinking among early adolescent girls. Method: Study participants were adolescent girls and their mothers from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Participants completed pretests online and were randomly divided between intervention and control arms. Intervention-arm girls and their mothers interacted with a computer program aimed to enhance mother-daughter relationships and to teach girls skills for managing conflict, resisting media influences, refusing alcohol and drugs, and correcting peer norms about underage drinking, smoking, and drug use. After intervention, all participants (control and intervention) completed posttest and follow-up measurements. Results: Two months following program delivery and relative to control-arm participants, intervention-arm girls and mothers had improved their mother-daughter communication skills and their perceptions and applications of parental monitoring and rule-setting relative to girls' alcohol use. Also at follow-up, intervention-arm girls had improved their conflict management and alcohol use-refusal skills; reported healthier normative beliefs about underage drinking; demonstrated greater self-efficacy about their ability to avoid underage drinking; reported less alcohol consumption in the past 7 days, 30 days, and year; and expressed lower intentions to drink as adults. Conclusions: Study findings modestly support the viability of a mother-daughter, computer-mediated program to prevent underage drinking among adolescent girls. The data have implications for the further development of gender-specific approaches to combat increases in alcohol and other substance use among American girls., ALCOHOL USE IS ON THE RISE among adolescent girls. Girls are starting to drink at younger ages than ever before (American Medical Association, 2004; Grunbaum et al., 2004; Hingson et [...]

The criterion validity of a prototype version of the Healthy Eating Self-monitoring Tool (HEST), a computer-mediated food record for assessing fruit and vegetable consumption among economically disadvantaged black adolescents, was examined. A qualitative design employing focus group methodology gathered data for informing the design of the HEST (n=32) and the selection of screens for inclusion in the measure (n=6). The criterion validity of the HEST was examined in a cross-sectional design (n=60) using direct observation of intake as the validation standard. Pearson correlations and paired-samples t tests compared mean observed and mean HEST-recorded servings of fruits and vegetables measured over three consecutive meals. Correlations were significant for seven of the nine HEST items, ranging from r-0.41 (P<0.01) to r=0.65 (P<0.001); for the overall measure, the correlation was r=0.51 (P<0.001). Paired-samples t tests confirmed the absence of differences between observed and recorded intake for approximately half of the HEST items. The HEST offers a viable alternative to traditional paper-and-pencil food records. With further development and validation, the HEST can be used to measure fruit and vegetable consumption among economically disadvantaged black adolescents.

Objective: This study tested a CD-ROM intervention with and without a parent involvement component to reduce risk of alcohol use among an urban sample of early adolescents. Method: Youths (N = 514, mean age 11.5 years at recruitment) were assigned randomly by community site to receive the CD-ROM intervention, the CD-ROM plus parent intervention, or no intervention. All youths completed pretest, posttest and three annual follow-up measurements. After pretesting, youths and parents received their respective interventions. Results: Main effects of the intervention and for measurement occasion as well as interaction effects of the intervention by measurement occasion were seen for substance use and related outcomes. Over time, youths in all 3 groups reported increased use of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana; youths who received the interventions reported smaller increases than control youths. At 3-year follow-up, alcohol use was lower for CD-ROM plus parent intervention youths than for CD-ROM only youths, who, in turn, reported less use than controls. Cigarette use was lower for youths in either intervention group than in the control group at posttest and at 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-ups. Marijuana use was lower for youths in either intervention than for controls at 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-ups. Youths in both intervention groups outperformed control youths at posttest and at 1- and 3-year follow-ups on levels of negative and peer influence toward substance use. Finally, at the 3-year follow-up, youths in the CD-ROM plus parent intervention group reported more family involvement in their alcohol use prevention efforts than did youths in the CD-ROM group, who, in turn, reported more positive levels of family involvement than youths in the control group. Conclusions: Study findings modestly support the CD-ROM intervention with and without the parent intervention to reduce alcohol use risks among urban early adolescents., CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH has been invested in discovering effective approaches to prevent alcohol use among American youth. Most approaches use theory-driven principles to help young people resist peer pressure, offset media [...]

A study of 757 black and Hispanic youth on their attitudes to alcohol use helped reveal that alcohol use among their role models and perceived drinking habits of their friends, peers and parents influenced them to take to alcohol. Better awareness of the ills of alcohol, dislike for drinking and positive role models can effect the prevention of alcohol abuse among minority youth from poor financial backgrounds.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors associated with young adolescents' increased risk for AIDS. A multiethnic sample of 303 seventh-grade students in three schools in the greater New York area completed questionnaires assessing their basic demographic characteristics (gender and ethnicity), AIDS knowledge, substance use (cigarette smoking, alcohol use), and decision-making skills. AIDS knowledge, substance use, decision-making skills, gender, and ethnicity predicted intentions to engage in sexual behavior in the future. Relevant knowledge of AIDS was associated with lower intentions to engage in sexual behavior in the future. More frequent substance use, less frequent use of decision-making skills, and being male increased intentions to engage in sexual behavior in the future. Our findings are discussed in terms of their implications for education and prevention of adolescent sexual activity and AIDS-risk reduction.

A study, conducted in a Midwestern university, comparing 30 students whose parents divorced while they were in high school and 30 whose parents divorced while they were in college concluded that the impact of parental divorce on late adolescents and young adults is similar. These findings contradicted earlier beliefs of adjustment disparities between high school and college students who experienced parental estrangement.

Americans of Hispanic and African heritage account for 40 percent of all cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among men, 79 percent of cases among female and heterosexual male IV […]

Female intravenous drug users are among the fastest growing segments of the population infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. This article, based on interviews with 91 African-American and Latina women in methadone clinics, describes respondents' drug use, sexual risk taking, and attitudes toward condom use and negotiation of safer sex; and examines relationships between sexual risk taking and demographic characteristics, length of time in treatment, current drug use, and attitudes toward negotiating safer sex and condoms. Forty-two percent of the sample reported that they had changed their sexual practices to reduce their risk of AIDS. Recovering IV drug users in long-term monogamous relationships tended to use condoms less frequently during sexual intercourse than those in casual relationships. Various drugs were differentially related to high-risk sexual activity. Frequent drug injectors admitted to having more sexual partners and to having sex more frequently, and used condoms with less frequently than women who used IV drugs less often. Attitudes toward negotiating safer sex and frequency of condom use varied by ethnicity. In addition, use of condoms appeared to be related more to attitudes toward negotiating safer sex and the degree of comfort with social skills in communicating with sexual partners than to perceptions about the properties of condoms. Finding have implications for developing interventions to reduce AIDS risks.

Building Skills of Recovering Women Drug Users to Reduce Heterosexual AIDS Transmission Synopsis Although most women infected with HIV are intravenous drug users, some contract the virus through sexual contact […]