J. David Hawkins

Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention.

The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.

Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs

This article summarizes a much lengthier one that appeared in Prevention and Treatment. The earlier article grew out of a project initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project described why policy makers, practitioners, and prevention scientists advocated a shift in approach for how youth issues are addressed in this country. The Positive Youth Development Evaluation project sought to define how youth development programs have been defined in the literature and then to locate, through a structured search, strong evaluations of these programs and summarize the outcomes of these evaluations. In the current article, we explain why prevention has shifted from a single problem focus to a focus on factors that affect both positive and problem youth development, describe what is meant by positive youth development, and summarize what we know about the effectiveness of positive youth development programs.

The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention.

This paper describes a comprehensive developmental approach to preventing youth crime based on the social development model, an integration of social control theory and social learning theory. The model asserts that the most important units of socialization, family, schools, peers, and community, influence behavior sequentially. Positive socialization is achieved when youths have the opportunity within each unit to be involved in conforming activities, when they develop skills necessary to be successfully involved, and when those with whom they interact consistently reward desired behaviors. These conditions should increase attachment to others, commitment to conforming behavior, and belief in the conventional order. These social bonds to conventional society inhibit association with delinquent pers and, in turn, prevent delinquent behavior. The paper describes prevention approaches consistent with the model. Rigorous evaluation of the delinquency prevention effects of these interventions is needed.

Measuring Risk and Protective Factors for Use, Delinquency, and Other Adolescent Problem Behaviors

Risk and protective factors predictive of adolescent problem behaviors such as substance abuse and delinquency are promising targets for preventive intervention. Community planners should assess and target risk and protective factors when designing prevention programs. This study describes the development, reliability, and validity of a self-report survey instrument for adolescents ages 11 to 18 that measures an array of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological domains as well as adolescent problem behaviors. The instrument can be used to assess the epidemiology of risk and protection in youth populations and to prioritize specific risk and protective factors in specific populations as targets for preventive intervention.Risk and protective factors predictive of adolescent problem behaviors such as substance abuse and delinquency are promising targets for preventive intervention. Community planners should assess and target risk and protective factors when designing prevention programs. This study describes the development, reliability, and validity of a self-report survey instrument for adolescents ages 11 to 18 that measures an array of risk and protective factors across multiple ecological domains as well as adolescent problem behaviors. The instrument can be used to assess the epidemiology of risk and protection in youth populations and to prioritize specific risk and protective factors in specific populations as targets for preventive intervention.

Predictors of Early High School Dropout: A Test of Five Theories.

This study compared the adequacy of 5 theories to predict dropping out of high school before the 10th grade. These theories include full mediation by academic achievement and direct effects related to general deviance, deviant affiliation, family socialization, and structural strains. Nested latent variable models were used to test these theories on prospective data from an ethnically diverse urban sample. Poor academic achievement mediated the effect of all independent factors on school dropout, although general deviance, bonding to antisocial peers, and socioeconomic status also retained direct effects on dropping out. Therefore, none of the theories tested was fully adequate to explain the data, although partial support was obtained for each theory. Implications for prevention of early high school dropout are discussed.

Developmental risk factors for youth violence.

PURPOSE To replicate earlier research findings on risk factors for youth violence and to explore the effects on violent behavior of constructs shown to increase risk for other problem behaviors, within a developmental frame. METHODS Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), a prospective study involving a panel of youths followed since 1985. Potential risk factors for violence at age 18 years were measured at ages 10, 14, and 16 years. Bivariate relationships involving risk factor constructs in the individual, family, school, peer and community domains and violence were examined at each age to assess changes in their strength of prediction over time. Attention was also given to the additive strength of increasing numbers of risk factors in the prediction of violence at age 18 years. A final set of analyses explored the extent to which youths were correctly classified as having committed a violent act (or not) at age 18 years on the basis of their overall level of risk at ages 10, 14, and 16 years. RESULTS At each age, risk factors strongly related to later violence were distributed among the five domains. Ten of 15 risk factors constructs measured at age 10 years were significantly predictive of violence at age 18 years. Twenty of 25 constructs measured at age 14 years and 19 of 21 constructs measured at age 16 years were significantly predictive of later violence. Many constructs predicted violence from more than one developmental point. Hyperactivity (parent rating), low academic performance, peer delinquency, and availability of drugs in the neighborhood predicted violence from ages 10, 14, and 16 years. Analyses of the additive effects of risk factors revealed that youths exposed to multiple risks were notably more likely than others to engage in later violence. The odds for violence of youths exposed to more than five risk factors compared to the odds for violence of youths exposed to fewer than two risk factors at each age were seven times greater at age 10 years, 10 times greater at age 14 years, and nearly 11 times greater at age 16 years. However, despite information gained from all significant risk factors, the overall accuracy in predicting youths who would go on to commit violent acts was limited. CONCLUSIONS Findings from the study have important implications for preventive intervention programs. Prevention efforts must be comprehensive and developmentally sensitive, responding to large groups or populations exposed to multiple risks.

Promoting science-based prevention in communities.

In the past decade, prevention science has emerged as a discipline built on the integration of life course development research, community epidemiology, and preventive intervention trials [Am. Psychol. 48 (1993) 1013; Am. J. Community Psychol. 27 (1999) 463; Kellam, S. G., & Rebok, G. W. (1992). Building developmental and etiological theory through epidemiologically based preventive intervention trials. In J. McCord & R. E. Tremblay (Eds.), Preventing antisocial behavior: interventions from birth through adolescence (pp. 162-195). New York: Guilford Press.]. Prevention science is based on the premise that empirically verifiable precursors (risk and protective factors) predict the likelihood of undesired health outcomes including substance abuse and dependence. Prevention science postulates that negative health outcomes like alcohol abuse and dependence can be prevented by reducing or eliminating risk factors and enhancing protective factors in individuals and their environments during the course of development. A growing number of interventions have been found to be effective in preventing adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and other drug abuse, delinquency, violence, and related health risk behaviors by reducing risk and enhancing protection. During the same decade, comprehensive community-based interventions to prevent adolescent health and behavior problems have been widely implemented in the U.S. with federal and foundation support. Despite the advances in the science base for effective preventive interventions and the investments in community-wide preventive interventions, many communities continue to invest in prevention strategies with limited evidence of effectiveness [Am. J. Public Health 84 (1994) 1394; J. Res. Crime Delinq. 39 (2002) 3; J. Community Psychol. 28 (2000) 237; J. Community Psychol. 28 (2000) 237; J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 67 (1999) 590; Eval. Program Plann. 20 (1997) 367.]. Translating prevention science into community prevention systems has emerged as a priority for prevention research [J. Community Psychol. 28 (2000) 363; J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 28 (1995) 479.]. The Communities That Care (CTC) prevention operating system is a field-tested strategy for activating communities to use prevention science to plan and implement community prevention systems. CTC provides tools that assist communities to use local data on risk and protective factors to identify elevated risks and depressed protective factors in geographic areas where levels of risk are high and levels of protection are low and then to implement tested, effective preventive interventions that reduce the identified risks and enhance protection in these [Developmental Research and Programs. (1997). Communities That Care: a comprehensive prevention program. Seattle, WA: Author; Developmental Research and Programs. (2000a). Communities That Care: a comprehensive prevention program. Seattle: Author; Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., et al. (1992). Communities That Care: action for drug abuse prevention (1st ed.). A joint publication of the Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series and the Jossey-Bass education series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass]. The CTC system is widely implemented, and process evaluations of CTC suggest that it can assist communities to develop more effective prevention systems. This paper describes the background and use of the CTC operating system and results of evaluations of implementation of the system.

Childhood Risk Factors for Adolescent Gang Membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project

Adolescents who join gangs are more frequently involved in serious delinquency compared with those who do not, yet few studies have conducted a prospective examination of risk factors for gang membership. The present study uses longitudinal data to predict gang membership in adolescence from factors measured in childhood. Data were from the Seattle Social Development Project, an ethnically diverse, gender-balanced sample (n = 808) followed prospectively from age 10 to 18. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors at ages 10 through 12 predictive of joining a gang between the ages of 13 and 18. Neighborhood, family, school, peer, and individual factors significantly predicted joining a gang in adolescence. Youth exposed to multiple factors were much more likely to join a gang. Implications for the development of gang prevention interventions are discussed.

Prevention science and positive youth development: Competitive or cooperative frameworks?

PURPOSE To examine the convergence in the critiques and recommendations for the future of programs to promote healthy development and prevent problem behaviors among children and adolescents. METHODS A review of literature captures two streams of thought, those promoting positive youth development approaches to youth programming and those promoting prevention science approaches to youth programming. RESULTS Results suggest that advocates of positive youth development and prevention science have similar critiques of single-problem-focused prevention programs in the 1980s and early 1990s, and have similar recommendations for the future of youth programming. Further, review of data on youth development suggests that it is important to focus on risk and protection in preventing adolescent problems as well as in promoting positive youth development. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that both youth development and prevention science approaches have grown from similar roots and make similar recommendations for the future of youth programming. Further, data on precursors suggest that focusing on promoting protection and reducing risk is likely to prevent problems and promote positive youth development. Yet advocates of these approaches often are at odds, suggesting that the approaches provide different paradigmatic approaches to youth programming. We conclude that cooperation between these two approaches would further progress in the field of youth programming.

Advancing knowledge about the onset of delinquency and crime.

Our main concern is to advance knowledge about the onset of delinquency and crime. When a person commits an offense for the first time, it is only future experience that can establish with certainty whether that offense was the onset of a persistent and serious criminal career or whether it was simultaneously the person’s first and last offense. However, the age at which a first offense occurs is one of the best predictors (or even the best predictor; see Blumstein, Farrington, & Moitra, 1985) of the future course of the criminal career.