Adaptation of the Communities That Care Youth Survey for Use in Estonia: A Pilot Study

The Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTCYS) assesses risk and protective factors, predicting a range of behavioural health problems, including substance use, violence, and delinquency. Although the survey has been adapted to other contexts and languages, further studies on cross-cultural adaptations, particularly in non-English speaking countries, are needed. In 2022, CTCYS was adapted for Estonia, incorporating 38 risk and protective factors, along with measures of substance use, antisocial behaviour, mental health problems, and self-harm. This study investigated the psychometric properties and applicability of the CTCYS in Estonia. The adaptation process involved translating and refining the US CTCYS, followed by focus group discussions with students and specialists and a pilot study in two municipalities, with data obtained from 265 students. A focus group with municipality members explored the measure's feasibility. Results indicate that the original CTC framework largely captures key issues within the Estonian context. Overall, the survey showed good validity, as evidenced by its ability to predict problem outcomes through both risk and protective factors. Regarding reliability, with the removal of one item, internal consistency reached acceptable levels for all but eight risk and protective factor subscales. The most problematic scales in the Estonian context were Prosocial Involvement, Social Skills, and Belief in the Moral Order. Municipality members perceived the measure as useful but highlighted some challenges regarding its practicality and comprehensibility. It became clear that other elements are needed to effectively support communities in using the CTCYS results for preventive efforts.

Adaptation of the Communities That Care Youth Survey for use in Brazil: A pilot study

Substance use and violence are serious problems affecting Brazilian youth, prompting local authorities to invest in adapting and implementing evidence-based prevention programs developed abroad. To ensure that interventions are effective, valid and reliable measures of risk factors for substance use and violence are needed. We conducted a pilot examination of the measurement properties of risk factors in the Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTCYS), a school-based survey developed in the United States. The Brazilian-adapted CTCYS included 25 risk factors as well as measures of substance use and antisocial behaviors. The survey was translated into Brazilian Portuguese and adapted for use in Brazil, incorporating suggestions from local experts. The survey was administered to 926 students in one Brazilian community. Results indicate that scale internal consistency was acceptable for all but two scales: (i) Academic Failure and (ii) Rebelliousness. Confirmatory factor analyses suggested good model fit for most measurement models albeit with minor modifications for most scales. Findings from this pilot study provide a foundation for the use of the CTCYS in Brazil to assess community levels of adolescent risk and evaluate prevention programs.

Protective Factors and Biological Sex Differentiate Profiles of Teen Substance Users in Myanmar

Background. Reports on worldwide drug use include some information on risk factors, but virtually no information on protective factors, which are an important component of prevention programs. Aims. This study investigated protective factors and biological sex differences associated with patterns of substance use among adolescents in Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia. Method. Myanmar high school students (N = 1,918; M_age = 15.35, SD = 1.07, range = 14-18; 56% female) completed a version of the Communities That Care survey validated for use in this population. Results. Latent class analysis revealed "Low Users" (38%), "Normative Users" (47%), and "Poly Drug Users" (15%) classes for males, and "Low Users" (80%), "Glue/Over-the-Counter Medication Users" (14%), and "High Users" (6%) classes for females. Univariate analyses indicated that belief in the moral order and positive family attachment differentiated profiles for both males and females; opportunities for prosocial family involvement, prosocial peer behavior, and opportunities to talk with teachers were additionally significant for males only. Logistic regression analysis comparing males in the "Low Users" and "Normative Users" classes indicated that opportunities for prosocial family involvement was protective after accounting for significant demographic and risk factors. In contrast, analyses comparing other classes of males or females found that once significant demographic and risk factors were controlled, protective factors did not discriminate classes. Conclusions. These data suggest that sex-specific prevention and intervention strategies may be more successful than universal approaches, and that attention to both risk and protective factors in prevention programming is warranted.

Risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use among Malaysian adolescents and young adults

INTRODUCTION

This study investigated risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use in Malaysian adolescents and young adults.

METHODS

Participants (n = 859; M age = 17.24 years, SD = 2.75 years, range = 13-25 years; 59% male) were recruited from secondary schools, technical colleges, a juvenile detention center and a national training center in Malaysia. A version of the Communities That Care survey validated for use in Malaysia (Razali & Kliewer, 2015) was used to assess study constructs.

RESULTS

One in 6 adolescents and 1 in 3 young adults reported lifetime recreational and hard drug use, with greater use reported by males across all drug categories. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the strongest risk and protective factors for recreational and hard drug use. The overall pattern of findings was similar for recreational and hard drug use. Shared risk factors for lifetime recreational and hard drug use included early initiation of antisocial behavior, peer antisocial behavior, and peer reinforcement for engaging in antisocial behavior; shared protective factors included religious practices and opportunities for prosocial school involvement. Multiple group analyses comparing adolescents and young adults indicated that patterns of risk and protective factors predicting drug use differed across these age groups. There were fewer significant predictors of either recreational or hard drug use for young adults relative to adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that interventions should target multiple microsystems (e.g., peer groups, family systems, school environments) and be tailored to the developmental stage of the individual.