330625
School Cluster Randomized Trial Reduced Risk Behaviors Such as Bullying, Fighting, And Substance Use Among Sixth Grade Students in Northwest Indiana Largely Rural Communities
Methods: Northwest Indiana largely rural communities. Evaluate Be the Exception Grade 6 program (1 of 3 Positive Potential, PATH INC, longiitudinal curriculum, Grades 6-7-8) includes instruction on making healthy choices and avoidance of risky behaviors in 5 50-minute sessions and a multi-media assembly.
School-cluster randomized design, Treatment and usual instruction Control; 14/16 schools (2 dropped out); 1,776 students (eligible 62% consent/assent) yielded analytic 1,703 sample (930/773); baseline, 3-month follow-up questionnaires, 10-items adapted from MS-YRBS; students were asked, In the past year if they engaged in: bullying-2, fighting-2, substance use-5, viewing pornography-1. Data included demographic items (gender, race, ethnicity, age) and subscales: school attitudes, making healthy-choices and positive-future orientation, parent-teen communication, self-report of school grades, and suspension/expelled.
Analysis: Separate three-level (L1-3,370 observations, L2-1,703 students, L3-103 classrooms) mixed effects regression models (Supermix) with ordinal outcomes for 6 scales: Total Risk Behaviors; Substance Use; and, Violence with subscales Bullying, Fighting, viewing Pornography. School level (ICC less than 0.5%) was dropped; p<.05 defined significance. Focus of analysis is group, time, group-by-time effect.
Results: 51% female, 94% white, 13% Hispanic, 94% age 11-12; baseline: total risk behavior, at least one, 46%; substance use, 9%; violence, 42%; fighting, 36%; bullying, 18%; pornography, 11%. Tx group significantly higher weights on 4/6 scales at baseline; control group significantly higher weights at 3-month-follow-up on 5/6 scales; and, significant group-by-time interaction on 5/6 scales. Control group showed increased level of risk behaviors, treatment group remained at same level. No differences in Pornography. Ordinal models illustrated ordered categories of riskness.
Conclusion: The grade 6 Be The Exception Program had a positive effect on students. Level of risk behaviors such as bullying, fighting and substance use increased for control and did not increase for treatment groups.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practiceEpidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Identify a newly developed middle school 6 session instruction program which demonstrates positive impact in self-report of risk behaviors such as bullying, fighting and substance use.
Describe strategies and analytic methods used to implement a school-based cluster randomized trial among 14 schools and measure 3-month follow-up outcomes.
Keyword(s): Evaluation, Youth Violence
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Evaluation Director for the project directed by PATH, INC, Valparaiso, IN, over the last 4 years. I have conducted research in the area of health promotion and disease prevention behaviors among adolescents over the last 10 years.
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.