Cues to parent involvement in drug prevention and school activities

Parents Are Unaware of Their Youths' Tobacco Use: Results from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study

BACKGROUND

In this study, we determined the prevalence of and factors associated with parent unawareness of youth tobacco use.

METHODS

We used data from waves 1, 2, and 3 (2013-2016) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study, a nationally representative study of 13,650 US youth ages 12 to 17 and their parents. We conducted weighted multivariate analyses comparing parent unawareness of youth-reported ever use and associations between parents' unawareness of youth use and covariates.

RESULTS

Youth ever tobacco use ranged from 21.8% in 2013-2014, to 24.1% in 2014-2015, to 23.4% in 2015-2016. Parent unawareness ranged from 57.6% in 2013-2014, to 61.9% in 2014-2015, and 64.5% in 2015-2016. Factors associated with higher parent unawareness of youth tobacco use in 2015-2016 were youth being female, black, or Hispanic (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.24-2.61; all ps < .05). Youth with lower academic performance, relatives who used tobacco, tobacco available in the home, or past 30-day use, were less likely to have parents unaware of their use (AORs 0.33-0.56; all ps < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Among youth who reported ever using tobacco, most had parents who were unaware of their use. School-based efforts targeting specific sociodemographic factors could increase parent awareness of youth tobacco use.

Iran's Activities on Prevention, Treatment and Harm Reduction of Drug Abuse

CONTEXT

In the present review study, authors investigated Iran's activities regarding prevention, abuse and harm reduction of drugs nationwide. The issue appears to be important in order to show the trend of activities in the country.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

In this report, authors gathered data from different Farsi/English peer review journals issued both in printed and online versions. These journals have been indexed in PubMed, ISI, ISC, SID, Magiran, UN, etc. These are among the most referred and cited databases.

RESULTS

Summarizing the data led to three distinguished sections: 1) drug supply reduction activities; 2) drug demand reduction activities; 3) harm reduction activities.

CONCLUSIONS

As the results showed, the trend of activities was encouraging and some additional activities could be included to future programs relying on early-onset preventions.

Development and Initial Evaluation of a Web-Based Program to Increase Parental Awareness and Monitoring of Underage Alcohol Use: A Brief Report

The development of a web-based parent-focused intervention to improve parental awareness and monitoring of adolescent alcohol use was preliminarily evaluated. Upon completion of baseline assessment, sixty-seven parents were randomly assigned to the experimental web-based parent-focused intervention or an assessment only control condition. Participants who completed the experimental program, relative to control participants, significantly improved knowledge of problems related to underage drinking (p < .01) while improvements in overall monitoring of their children approached significance (p = .08). Improvements in monitoring by experimental participants, relative to controls, were pronounced in phone monitoring (p < .01) and indirect monitoring (p = .05). Participants in this study improved their communication about alcohol from pre- to post-intervention regardless of intervention. There were no statistical between group differences found regarding underage drinking attitudes. This pilot evaluation demonstrates that this program warrants further examination in controlled trials with greater power. Study implications are discussed in light of results.

The relationship between neighborhood characteristics and recruitment into adolescent family-based substance use prevention programs

Youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods are at risk for poor health outcomes. Characteristics of these neighborhoods may translate into intensified risk due to barriers utilizing preventive care such as substance use prevention programs. While family-level risks affect recruitment into prevention programs, few studies have addressed the influence of neighborhood risks. This study consists of 744 families with an 11- to 12-year-old child recruited for a family-based substance use prevention program. Using US Census data, logistic regressions showed neighborhoods were related to recruitment, beyond individual characteristics. Greater neighborhood unemployment was related to decreased agreement to participate in the study and lower rates of high school graduation were related to lower levels of actual enrolment. Conversely, higher rates of single-female-headed households were related to increased agreement. Recruitment procedures may need to recognize the variety of barriers and enabling forces within the neighborhood in developing different strategies for the recruitment of youth and their families.

Health materials and strategies for the prevention of immigrants' weight-related problems

Existing health education materials dealing with healthy eating, active living, and body image were examined by immigrant parents of elementary school children to determine their relevance, cultural competence, and accessibility. A total of 13 immigrant mothers from Sri Lanka and China participated in a series of three focus groups. Study findings indicate that the present health education materials intended to help prevent weight-related problems could be improved to better meet the needs of new immigrant families. Immigrant mothers who participated in the study expressed their preferences for health education materials and prevention interventions undertaken in a culturally relevant/competent, knowledge-sharing, participatory manner. Acting on these suggestions could help practitioners and public health agencies develop more effective strategies that meet the requirements of ethno-cultural immigrant communities.

Use of small incentives for increasing participation and reducing dropout in a family drug-use prevention program in a Spanish sample

Poor participation rates represent one of the most serious problems facing family-based drug-use prevention programs. Strategies involving incentives have been used to increase recruitment and retention of the target population of such interventions, but in Spain, such strategies for modifying behavior are unusual. The goal of the research was to study the use of small financial incentives (euro10 voucher) as a strategy to increase attendance and reduce dropout in a family drug-prevention program applied in the school context. Participants were 211 pupils (aged 12-13) and their parents. The results show that small financial incentives can be useful to increase the attendance of families in prevention programs and to reduce dropout.

Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) Programs in the State of Florida

In Florida, data from telephone surveys were used to identify correlates and predictors of teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of tobacco use prevention education (TUPE) prior to the implementation of the Tobacco Pilot Project (TPP). A 40% random sample of public middle and high schools yielded 296 middle school teachers (MST) and 282 high school teachers (HST). Higher perceived program effectiveness ratings were associated with: using peer leaders, frequent evaluations, parental involvement, few barriers, high student interest, and low tolerance norms for tobacco use. The importance of program features and implementation contexts to teachers' perceived program effectiveness ratings is highlighted.

Investigating parental preferences regarding the development and implementation of a parent-directed drug-related educational intervention: an exploratory study

Strengthening parents' capacity to reduce children's risk of alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related harm is recognised as an important public health strategy in Australia, but engaging parents' involvement in these training programs is known to be challenging. This study utilised a self-complete questionnaire and structured small group discussions with parents in order to identify their needs in terms of communicating with their children about drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. It also investigated their preferences regarding the nature of a parent drug education intervention as well as strategies to recruit and actively engage them in parent-directed interventions. Parents identified numerous barriers to their participation in such programs and reported any intervention targeting them should be able to be completed in their home, be non-judgemental, easy to read, time-efficient, easy to use, fun, colourful and interactive. Parents recommended practical communication skills (such as how to talk with children, how to raise the topic and what topics to talk about) be addressed in the intervention. They also recommended a range and combination of strategies to promote and maintain parent involvement, such as providing small rewards for the children of parents who participate. Despite some limitations, the findings of this study contribute important practical knowledge regarding how to recruit, engage and retain higher percentages of parents in parent training programs.

Promoting sun protection in elementary schools and child care settings: the SunSafe Project

Elementary schools and child care settings in rural New Hampshire participated in a sun protection program that reached more than 4,200 children. The program was part of a successful multifaceted community intervention targeting children ages 2-9. Program components included curricular materials, training and support for school/child care staff, and parent outreach. Evaluation showed good uptake of the curriculum by teachers and child care providers, improvements in sun protection policy in participating schools and child care settings, and significant knowledge and attitude improvements in fourth grade children tested, as well as actual behavior change. The study highlighted the importance of flexible, developmentally appropriate curricular materials and active engagement of principals and directors in policy review. In addition, for parent outreach programs to be successful, children needed to participate.

Drug prevention with high risk families and young children

The effects of a school and home-based drug prevention program on risk factors for subsequent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use among children were studied. Data on parent and child risk factors for ATOD use were collected from fifty-six low-income parents and their children, ages four to six years, using a pretest-posttest design. The parent-child intervention was conducted over a two-month period. The intervention had no effect on parent or child risk factors. However, the program was favorably received by parents and children. Almost two-thirds of the parents at the experimental school were involved in the program. Almost half of the parents had high depressive symptoms. The high rates of ATOD use and depressive symptoms among these parents are cause for concern.