A Family Intervention for Adolescent Problem Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的15年中，我们已经开发，实施，并测试了旨在减少问题行为和提高家庭管理技能的干预计划的有效性在中学几年。青少年过渡计划（ATP）是一个多层次的，以学校为基础的干预措施，旨在通过提高家庭管理技能和家长参与减少问题行为。拟议研究的目标是从经验上完善和改进以家庭为中心的综合预防战略，以减少和预防青少年物质使用和其他问题行为。从我们以前的研究和在公立学校环境中工作的实践经验可以清楚地看出，我们需要在三个关键领域改进ATP，以建立以前的显著效果，并提高未来传播和大规模实施的潜力：（一）通过扩大干预措施的组成部分并系统地嵌入这些组成部分，提高干预措施的普遍水平和指示水平的可行性（B）解决从初中到高中的过渡问题，特别关注学业参与和减少离经叛道的同龄人聚集，以及：（c）明确将对不同族裔群体的家庭和青少年进行成功干预的原则纳入我们的通用和指定模式。最后，一个总体目标是开发，测试和完善一套基于研究的工具，促进评估，培训，实施和监测干预保真度，以最大限度地提高实施和大规模传播的潜在成功。在拟议的研究中，我们计划在俄勒冈州的波特兰的3所不同的中学内工作，样本约为540名青年。家庭将被随机分配接受ATP计划或治疗。在我们的实验组中，我们将进一步完善我们的干预措施，以加强不同种族群体的参与，并进行新的文化增强家庭检查。评估将收集5年，通过10年级。高中过渡规划和密集的干预工作将发生在7-9年级。将在9年级和10年级评估这一干预措施的直接影响。我们假设，我们的干预将减少问题行为和物质使用的增长，通过加强家庭管理和家长参与学校。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over the past 15 years, we have developed, implemented, and tested the efficacy of an intervention program designed to reduce problem behavior and enhance family management skills during the middle-school years. The Adolescent Transitions Program (ATP) is a multitiered, school-based intervention designed to reduce problem behavior by enhancing family management skills and parent involvement. The goal for the proposed research is to empirically refine and improve a comprehensive family-centered prevention strategy for reducing and preventing adolescent substance use and other problem behaviors. It is clear from our previous research and practical experience working in the public-school setting that we need to improve ATP in three critical areas to build on previous significant effects and enhance the potential for future dissemination and large-scale implementation: (a) improve the feasibility of both the universal level and the indicated level of the intervention by broadening the intervention components and systematically embedding these components into the current behavioral support system in the schools; (b) address the transition from middle to high school, with special attention to academic engagement and reduction of deviant peer clustering, and: (c) explicitly incorporate principles of successful interventions with families and young adolescents of diverse ethnic groups into both our universal and indicated models. Finally, a general goal is to develop, test, and refine a set of research-based instruments that facilitate evaluation, training, implementation, and monitoring of intervention fidelity to maximize the potential success of implementation and large-scale dissemination. In the proposed research, we plan to work within 3 different middle schools in Portland, Oregon, with a sample of approximately 540 youth. Families will be assigned randomly to receive either the ATP program or treatment as usual. Within our experimental group, we will refine further our intervention to enhance engagement across different ethnic groups with a new Culturally Enhanced Family Check-Up. Assessments will be collected for 5 years through the 10th grade. High-school transition planning and intensive intervention efforts will occur in Grades 7-9. The immediate impact of this intervention will be assessed during the 9th- and l0th-grade years. We hypothesize that our intervention will reduce the growth of problem behavior and substance use through the enhancement of family management and parent involvement in school.