Competence-Enhancement Prevention Program Effects on Later Risky Sexual Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案旨在研究一项以证据为基础的能力增强普遍学校预防计划的长期效果，该计划已交付给纽约市就读中学的城市少数民族青年。将测试干预对酒精、烟草和非法药物使用的长期影响，以及这些影响是否会推广到年轻成年参与者的各种性风险行为。先前的研究表明，模范预防计划，生活技能培训（LST），对物质使用和其他结果产生积极的行为影响，这种影响持续到郊区白人样本的高中毕业。这种干预教给年轻人重要的社会和认知技能，可以帮助他们掌握各种发展任务。反过来，这可能会增强对社会、环境和心理力量的抵御能力，这些力量促进和维持了各种具有相似风险和保护因素的负面健康行为。将测试与LST干预内容密切相关的几种替代假设机制，以调查参与干预如何减少后来的危险物质使用和性危险行为。最近发表的一份来自郊区白人年轻人的独立样本数据显示，LST减缓了青少年时期酒精和大麻中毒率的增长，这反过来预示着后来艾滋病毒风险行为的减少，定义为醉酒时发生性行为。在拟议的研究中，将对参加青春期LST随机试验的年轻人进行随访电话访谈。样本代表了一个未被充分研究的群体，主要是纽约市经济上处于不利地位的少数民族青年。参与者将是大约3500名年龄在21-23岁之间的年轻人，他们将在最近一次数据收集后的5年内接受采访。20所治疗学校的个人接受了30期预防计划；21所对照学校的学生则没有。参与者每年接受一次调查，直到12年级，包括风险行为和心理风险因素。拟议的研究扩展了LST长期有效性的工作，并提供了确定对多种结果产生长期影响的干预措施的潜力。拟议的研究还提供了从青少年早期开始跟踪的未充分研究的城市少数民族年轻人在向青年成年过渡期间危险行为的病因学的关键信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is designed to examine the long-term effects of an evidence-based competence-enhancement universal school-based prevention program that was delivered to urban minority youth attending middle schools in New York City. The long-term effects of the intervention on alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use will be tested, as well as whether the effects generalize to a variety of sexual risk behaviors among participants as young adults. Previous research has shown that the model prevention program, Life Skills Training (LST), produces positive behavioral effects on substance use and other outcomes with effects lasting until the end of high school in suburban White samples. The intervention teaches young people important social and cognitive skills that can help them master various developmental tasks. This may in turn increase resilience to the social, environmental, and psychological forces that promote and maintain a variety of negative health behaviors that share similar risk and protective factors. Several alternate hypothesized mechanisms that are closely tied to the LST intervention content will be tested to investigate how participation in the intervention may reduce later risky substance use and sexual risk behaviors. Recently published data from a separate sample of suburban White young adults are presented showing that LST slowed growth in alcohol and marijuana intoxication rates during adolescence, which in turn predicted a later reduction in HIV risk behaviors, as defined as having sex while intoxicated. In the proposed study, follow-up telephone interviews will be administered to the cohort of young adults that participated in a randomized trial of LST during adolescence. The sample represents an understudied group of predominantly minority, economically disadvantaged youth in New York City. Participants will be approximately 3500 young adults ages 21-23 who will be interviewed 5 years following their most recent data collection. Individuals in 20 treatment schools received the 30 session prevention program; students in 21 control schools did not. Participants were surveyed annually through the 12th grade with measures of risk behavior and psychosocial risk factors. The proposed study extends work on the long-term effectiveness of LST and offers the potential of identifying an intervention that produces long-term effects for multiple outcomes. The proposed study also provides critical information on the etiology of risk behaviors during the transition to young adulthood in an understudied population of urban minority young adults who have been followed since early adolescence.