Disadvantaged Youth and Alcohol Abuse Prevention

这项研究将扩大个人和家庭干预措施的随机试验，以防止经济困难的城市青年饮酒。在那次试验中，大约500名来自大纽约市、新泽西州和特拉华州的早期青少年被合作社区网站分配到三组中的一组：青少年干预组、青少年干预组加父母干预组或对照组。两个干预组的青少年都完成了通过CD-ROM提供的预防酗酒方案的初始和加强课程。第二组青少年的父母通过录像带、通讯和工作坊收到支持青少年干预的内容。所有的年轻人都被跟踪了3年。迄今为止的研究结果证明了青少年干预的有效性，并显示父母接受干预的青少年有适度的额外益处。

The research will extend work begun in a randomized trial of individual and family interventions for preventing alcohol use among economically disadvantaged urban youth. In that trial, roughly 500 early adolescents from greater New York City, New Jersey, and Delaware were assigned by collaborating community site to one of three arms: youth intervention, youth intervention plus parent intervention, or control. Youths in both intervention arms completed initial and booster sessions of an alcohol abuse prevention program delivered by CD-ROM. Parents of youths in the second intervention arm received content to support youth intervention via videotape, newsletters, and a workshop. All youths were followed for 3 years. Findings to date demonstrate the efficacy of youth intervention and show modest added benefits for youths whose parents received intervention. Building on this work, the continuation study will longitudinally track youths as they enter the high-risk years for alcohol use, develop and deliver boosters sessions for youths and parents, and analyze program effects by study arm, intervention dosage, and gender and ethnic-racial variables. The contribution of mediating variables to intervention outcomes will also be explored. Annual follow-up measurements in the continuation study will include new scales to assess youths' increased risks for alcohol use by virtue of their maturation and prior scales administered at pretest, posttest, and 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-up measurements in the current study. Tracking provisions are in place to retain the sample throughout the second 5 years of funding.