Child abduction is a serious problem, with approximately 100 children killed each year by nonfamily abductors. Training programs to teach children the correct skills to use if they ever come into contact with a stranger can be effective when they incorporate behavioral skills training (BST) and in-situ training (IST) into their protocol. However,…

Functional measurement studies typically collect numerical data in order to study judgment. The new Nanova (Nominal analysis of "variance") method allows for expansion of the paradigm to include the study of actual or projected behavior. In everyday life, people carry out actions that can be described using verbal labels, which are nominal data.…

Background: To reduce the number of sports-related concussions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the support of partners and experts in the field, has developed a tool kit for high school coaches with practical, easy-to-use concussion-related information. This study explores the success of the tool kit in changing…

Relatively little is known about the prevalence of physical dating violence behaviors and perceived norms about dating violence among early adolescents. A sample of 5,404 sixth-grade students was recruited from four diverse U.S. sites. Over half of the respondents reported that girls hitting their boyfriends was acceptable under certain…

To investigate the association between theoretically grounded psychosocial motivators and the sun safety practice intentions of rural youth. Method: A survey was given to 219 members of FFA (Future Farmers of America) at high schools in the rural Midwest (average age = 16). Results: Perceived self-efficacy, peer norms, response efficacy, and…

The purpose of this article is to describe research-based reading intervention within a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) model, using prevention science as a context. First, RTI is defined and a rationale is provided for its use in improving the reading performance of all students, particularly those students identified as at risk for…

Background: Depressive disorders are experienced by 3-5% of the adolescent population at any point of time. They adversely affect adolescent development in a range of areas and greatly increase risk for suicide. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a universal intervention designed to reduce depressive symptoms among students…

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption by underage students is a serious and persistent problem facing most U.S. colleges and universities. Purpose: This qualitative study explores why underage students engage in high-risk drinking and examines motivational cues that may serve as behavioral deterrents. Methods: Focus groups were conducted with…

This article presents the authors' response to Sharon Vaughn and colleagues' article "Response to Intervention for Middle School Students With Reading Difficulties: Effects of a Primary and Secondary Intervention." In Vaughn et al. article, a study in which they provided professional development to content area teachers, with the goal of…

School discipline addresses schoolwide, classroom, and individual student needs through broad prevention, targeted intervention, and development of self-discipline. Schools often respond to disruptive students with exclusionary and punitive approaches that have limited value. This article surveys three approaches to improving school discipline…

School-based prevention programs are an important component of problem gambling prevention, but empirically effective programs are lacking. Stacked Deck is a set of 5-6 interactive lessons that teach about the history of gambling; the true odds and "house edge"; gambling fallacies; signs, risk factors, and causes of problem gambling; and…

In this study I examine the critical factors and themes that are identified as salient influencers of overt and relational aggression among youth. Sex differences and similarities associated with such adolescent perceptions are assessed. Forty-eight ethnically diverse youth between the ages of 14 and 16 years participated in sex-specific focus…

Sexual health education often focuses on prevention of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies, but the decision to engage in sexual activity is equally important. This cross-sectional study examined the decisions of college students (n = 422) to engage in oral sex, vaginal sex, and other sexual behaviors. Regression analyses…

We evaluated Families Matter! Program (FMP), an intervention designed to improve parent-child communication about sexual risk reduction and parenting skills. Parents of 10- to 12-year-olds were recruited in western Kenya. We aimed to assess community acceptability and FMP's effect on parenting practices and effective parent-child communication.…

Objective: In a randomized clinical trial with 111 families of parents with a history of major depressive disorder (86% mothers, 14% fathers; 86% Caucasian, 5% African-American, 3% Hispanic, 1% American Indian or Alaska Native, 4% mixed ethnicity), changes in adolescents' (mean age = 11 years; 42% female, 58% male) coping and parents' parenting…