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- All Subjects: Adolescent
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Arévalo Avalos, Marvyn R
- Creators: Chassin, Laurie
- Resource Type: Text
Description
This study examined an adverse effect of an adolescent group intervention. Group interventions represent one of the most economical, convenient, and common solution to adolescent behavior problems, although prior findings from program evaluation studies have suggested that these groups can unexpectedly increase the externalizing behaviors that they were designed to reduce or prevent. The current study used data from a longitudinal, randomized controlled trial of the Bridges to High School / Puentes a La Secundaria Program, a multicomponent prevention program designed to reduce risk during the middle school transition, which has demonstrated positive effects across an array of outcomes. Data were collected at the beginning of 7th grade, with follow-up data collected at the end of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 12th grade from a sample of Mexican American adolescents and their mothers. Analyses evaluated long-term effects on externalizing outcomes, trajectories of externalizing behaviors across adolescence, and potential mediators of observed effects. Results showed that the adverse effect that was originally observed based on adolescent self-report of externalizing symptoms at 1-year posttest among youth with high pretest externalizing symptoms was not maintained over time and was not reflected in changes in adolescents' trajectories of externalizing behaviors. Moreover, neither of the peer mediators that theory suggests would explain adverse effects were found to mediate the relationship between intervention status and externalizing symptoms at 1-year posttest. Finally, only beneficial effects were found on externalizing symptoms based on mother report. Together, these findings suggest that the Bridges intervention did not adversely affect adolescent problem behaviors and that future studies should use caution when interpreting unexpected adverse effects.
ContributorsWong, Jessie Jong-Chee (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy A. (Thesis advisor) / West, Stephen G. (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Dishion, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Adolescent substance use is a complex and significant public health concern that has received considerable attention among researchers and practitioners (Gray & Squeglia, 2018). The purpose of this dissertation was to examine factors associated with substance use intervention effects and to develop subgroups of risk factors for Mexican adolescents. This dissertation utilizes secondary data from a randomized controlled trial of the school-based substance use universal prevention program, keepin’ it REAL (kiR). The dissertation included two studies. Study 1: This study tested a model on the efficacy of the school-based substance use universal prevention program, keepin’ it REAL, among a sample of Mexican adolescents (N = 3,742, 11-17 years old). Study 1 analysis included Structural Equation Modeling and results demonstrated that participation in kiR positively predicted alcohol resistance strategies and those alcohol resistance strategies were negatively and significantly associated with alcohol use. Further, depressive symptomology was a moderator of intervention effects as the effects of kiR on resistance strategies increased as the level of depressive symptomology increased. Study 2: this study explored subgroups (classes) of Mexican adolescents (N = 5,520, 11-14 years old) based on their experiences with violence (witnessing, victimization, and perpetration), depressive symptomology, and substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana). Using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) four empirically, well-differentiated classes emerged representing adolescents various risk typologies (Moderate Risk-Violence at 55% of the sample, Low Risk at 35%, High Risk at ~8%; and Moderate Risk-Substance Use at ~2%) Implications for research and practice are discussed across both studies.
ContributorsArévalo Avalos, Marvyn R (Author) / Spanierman, Lisa (Thesis advisor) / Dillon, Frank (Committee member) / Marsiglia, Flavio (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021