A unique Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) prevention program called "PALS" (Prevention through Alternative Learning Styles) was implemented with middle school students with the goal of enhancing student knowledge of the harmful effects of ATOD, promoting the use of refusal skills and reducing intentions to use ATOD in the future.…

Sixth graders participating in the "Too Good for Drugs" (TGFD) prevention program in comparison to 6th graders not participating show different results by student risk level. Sixth graders from 20 middle schools were randomly assigned to receive the intervention and those from 20 paired middle schools assigned to serve as controls (N =…

This article presents the results of a mediation analysis of Project MYTRI (Mobilizing Youth for Tobacco Related Initiatives in India), a randomized, controlled trial of a multiple-component, school-based tobacco prevention program for sixth- to ninth-graders (n = 14,085) in Delhi and Chennai, India. A mediation analysis identifies "how"…

The present study examines collectivist influences in preventing smoking among Hispanic youths. Using a pretest/posttest design, sixth-graders received a collectivist or standard curriculum. Both curricula contained knowledge-based facts about smoking. The collectivist condition included an interdependent perspective. Compared to the standard…

The present study examined the role of individualism-collectivism (IC) and acculturation in smoking prevention programs for Hispanic preadolescents. The sixth graders received a collectivist or individualist curriculum. Both programs contained knowledge-based facts about smoking. The collectivist condition included an interdependent…

This exploratory study sought to determine if a popular school-based drug prevention program might be effective in schools that are making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Thirty-four schools with grades 6 through 8 in 11 states were randomly assigned either to receive Project ALERT (n = 17) or to a control group (n = 17); of these, 10 intervention…

This article represents a replication and extension of previous studies of the effects of "Project ALERT", a school-based substance use prevention program, on the prodrug beliefs of adolescents. Specifically, the authors' research examined "Project ALERT's" effects on adolescents' intentions to use substances in the future, beliefs about substance…

Goals for Health was a National Cancer Institute funded program designed to impact health behaviors of adolescents living in rural Virginia and New York. This study examined three specific objectives: (a) to examine participants' perceptions of the program components and the relationship between program components and overall program perception,…

This study examined the association between ecological context (extrafamilial, familial, child factors) at baseline and longitudinal retention of families in the 36-month assessment of an adolescent alcohol and tobacco use prevention program that was conducted within a pediatric primary care setting. A total of 1,780 families were enrolled at…

This article describes the implementation of an innovative curriculum called Drugs-At-Work (DAW), which was evaluated in three phases. In phase-one, data collected after the third year of the study suggested that the curriculum had a significant impact on the fifth-grade participants, who in turn influenced their sixth-grade classmates the…

Purpose: This study examined the awareness and impact of antitobacco media messages among rural, suburban, and urban youth. Method: Self-administered questionnaires were received from 1,622, 1,059, and 1,177 middle school (sixth, seventh, and eighth grade) students in rural, suburban, and urban locations, respectively. Logistic regression compared…

To examine cumulative impact of anti-smoking messages, 300+ sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at three southern, private schools completed the Youth Tobacco Survey during both fall and spring, 2001-2002. One school had tobacco lessons plus health-promotion teams, the other tobacco lessons, and the third classes as usual. In attitudes and…

The purpose of this article is to outline the process, content, and evaluation of a 14-week health education program for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in an inner city Catholic grade school who are at risk for multiple health problems. The process includes a needs assessment with findings, followed by construction of an age-appropriate program.…

Purpose: To examine a tobacco prevention elementary school project completed in 2000 in one rural state in the southeastern USA. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, 721 public school fourth through sixth grade teachers across Mississippi attended (for reimbursement) a tobacco prevention workshop that included curriculum-integrated material;…

This study reports on CHAMPS, a youth tobacco and prevention program intervention that focused on peer-led educational activities. Nineteen schools implemented a CHAMPS tobacco prevention program in grades 5, 6, and 7. Six schools served as nonintervention comparison sites. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires were completed by 1,412 students.…