Positive Impact on Youth, Families, and Communities
Example I: Youth Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana Use at the Community Level*
Long-term Community-level Prevention Outcomes
As part of our mission to promote healthy youth and families through school-community-university partnerships, we have amassed substantial positive findings over 15 years from a number of studies. The school- and family-focused evidence-based interventions (EBIs) implemented have shown positive results on a range of alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use measures.
Evidence of effectiveness of the interventions, based on randomized, controlled studies, include:
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Delayed initiation: alcohol use, drunkenness, tobacco use, and marijuana use. The graph below illustrates the delayed initiation of drunkenness for the Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), among adolescents from 6th grade through 12th grade. By 10th grade, around 60% of the control group report having been drunk at least once in their lifetime, compared to 25% of the intervention group.
*Note: Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Articles and presentations reporting results are summarized at www.ppsi.iastate.edu
Example I: Youth Alcohol, Tobacco, and Marijuana Use at the Community Level
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The following graph illustrates that, when compared to the control group, youth in the intervention groups reached a specified level of use over 2 years later.
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To determine whether the interventions are effective for higher-risk adolescents, it is important to compare intervention effects for higher-risk
adolescents with those for lower-risk adolescents. Typically, our interventions show comparable benefits for higher- and lower-risk subgroups.
The following graph illustrates intervention effects on annual marijuana use. Higher risk is defined as having used two or more substances—alcohol,
cigarettes, marijuana—prior to implementation of the interventions. In this study, higher-risk youth benefited more. Among higher-risk 12th graders,
69% of those in the control group reported using marijuana in the past year, compared to only 21% of the intervention group.
Example II: Youth Methamphetamine Use at the Community Level*
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Intervention effects on illicit substance use, such as methamphetamines, are important—especially with the increasing methamphetamine problem in rural areas. The following graph illustrates positive partnership-based intervention effects on methamphetamine use across two controlled studies.
*Note: ISFP is the Iowa Strengthening Families Program; SFP + LST is the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 (revised ISFP) plus Life Skills Training.
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12th Graders who participated in both the Life Skills Training program and Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 reported 65% less lifetime methamphetamine use than youth who did not participate in the interventions.
*Source: Spoth, R., Clair, S., Shin, C., & Redmond, C. (2006). Long-term Effects of Universal Preventive Interventions on
Methamphetamine Use Among Adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Example III: Youth and Family Mental Health at the Community Level*
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As part of our mission to promote healthy youth and families through school-community-university partnerships, we have amassed substantial positive findings over the past 15 years from a number of studies. The school- and family-focused evidence-based interventions (EBIs) implemented have primarily focused on reduction of substance- and conduct-related problems. Benefits of EBI participation extend beyond that, however, to include positive effects on other mental health outcomes and mental health promotion.
Long-term Community-level Prevention Outcomes
Evidence of effectiveness of the interventions, based on randomized, controlled studies, include:
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The long-term reduction of conduct and behavior problems, as reported by adolescents, their parents, or trained observers. The following graph illustrates the family-focused intervention effects on observer-rated aggressive and hostile behaviors. The second graph shows effects on diagnosable conduct-related disorders. Those in the control group were over 2½ times more likely to have a diagnosable conduct disorder, when compared to the intervention group (11.2% vs. 4.1%).
*Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Articles and presentations reporting results are summarized at www.ppsi.iastate.edu.
Example III: Youth and Family Mental Health at the Community Level
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Long-term reduction of internalizing problems, such as anxiety and depression. Although these problems are not specifically targeted by the interventions, the interventions focus on some of the factors that predict both substance use and internalizing problems (such as parent-child relationship and adolescent skills). The following graph illustrates intervention effects on girls’ anxiety and depression symptoms from post-test in the 6th grade through the 12th grade.
Positive Mental Health and Academic Outcomes
It is important to consider intervention effects on positive mental health and academic outcomes. The interventions enhance parent and adolescent skills;
therefore, effects can be expected to generalize to positive mental health outcomes. Some of those outcomes are described below.
Findings from our randomized, controlled study suggest long-term, positive effects of family skills training in 6th grade (ISFP) on student school
engagement in 8th grade and academic success in 12th grade. The partnership-based intervention in 6th grade significantly impacts student academic
success (parent-reported grades) in 12th grade through:
—Enhanced positive parenting behavior effects on school engagement;
—Reduced substance-related risk behavior effects on school engagement.
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Positive Parent-Child Interactions
Skills training acquired during the family-focused intervention began a sequence of effects by which the parenting behaviors targeted directly
by the intervention influenced the more global parenting practices of general child management and parent-child affective quality.
Significant public health benefits could accrue by widespread dissemination of the intervention to enhance effective parenting.
Results from a randomized, controlled study suggest long-term, positive indirect effects of parent skills training on marital quality,
through improved parenting skills. These findings suggest that parents are not only using positive relationship skills with their children,
but also are generalizing these positive relationship skills to their marital relationship.
