142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

304440
Effect of a Randomized Anti-Stigma School-Based Intervention on Received and Delivered Problem Behaviors

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Melissa DuPont-Reyes, MPH , Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY
Kirstin Painter, PhD, LCSW , Research, MHMR of Tarrant County, Fort Worth, TX
Kay Barkin , Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County, Fort Worth, TX
Jo C. Phelan, PhD , Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY
Bruce Link, PhD , Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY
Youth experiencing a mental health problems may be predisposed to problem behaviors such as bullying, violence, and teasing. Additionally, youth who participate in problem behaviors may experience  concurrent mental health problems. Investigators in this area of research often refer to reporters of problem behaviors as ‘victims’ or ‘perpetrators’. However, given that youth do not identify with those terms and the mutuality of problem behaviors, it may be more accurate to refer to victimization and perpetration of problem behaviors as receiving and delivering problem behaviors, respectively.

We examined the short-term effectiveness of a randomized school-based intervention aimed at reducing mental health stigma on self-reported receiving and delivering problem behaviors. An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 721 sixth-graders from 14 schools comprised this unique study, which took place from September 2011 to December 2012 in Texas. Interventions included an anti-stigma curriculum, contact with a person who has a mental illness, and use of supplemental printed materials. A pre/post survey included a Problem Behavior Frequency Aggression Scale, a 19-item measure that assesses physical, non-physical and relational aggression among youth. Receiving the curriculum significantly decreased delivering problem behaviors when compared to the contact (p=0.013) and no-intervention control (p=0.003). The curriculum also decreased received problem behaviors but this effect did not achieve statistical significance. Long-term follow-up data of the sample will test the effectiveness of the intervention on inducing sustained changes of receiving and delivering problems behaviors. Based on these findings, the anti-stigma curriculum may be used to target problem behaviors among youth.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe baseline prevalence of self-reported receiving and delivering problem behaviors among a sixth-grade sample. Evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based anti-stigma curriculum, contact with a person who has a mental illness, and use of supplemental materials on receiving and delivering problem behaviors among sixth grade students.

Keyword(s): Mental Health, Youth Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a research assistant on this federally-funded project since June 2011 and am a PhD candidate in epidemiology. I have worked closely with the research team on the implementation and evaluation of this research, and have conducted site visits to the schools participating in the study. I presented at APHA in 2011 in the area of relationship violence and community violence among adolescents and at APHA in 2013 in a Mental Health Section symposium.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.