Leonard LoSciuto

An Outcome Evaluation of across Ages: An Intergenerational Mentoring Approach to Drug Prevention

The goal of Across Ages is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a comprehensive, intergenerational mentoring approach to drug prevention for high-risk middle school students. The core of the project is the involvement of older adults (55+) as mentors to the students. Older mentors help children develop the awareness, self-confidence, and skills they need to resist drugs and overcome overwhelming obstacles. In addition to mentoring, the project engages students in community service activities that benefitfrail elders, provides a classroom-based life skills curriculum, and offers workshops to parents. The project targets sixth-grade students attending three public middle schools in Philadelphias most stressed neighborhoods and has served 562 children during the first 3 project years. The evaluation results support the initial hypothesis that the multifaceted intervention approach would result in more positive changes in student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior concerning substance abuse and related life skills and that those whose mentors were most involved with them wouldfare even better.

Paraprofessional Versus Professional Drug Counselors: Diverse Routes to the Same Role

The backgrounds and roles of ex-addict ( EXA ) and non-ex-addict (NEA) paraprofessional methadone maintenance and drug-free out-patient counselors were contrasted with those of degreed professional counselors (PRO). There was no evidence of differential assignment of clients to counselors based on drug use, drug treatment, criminal, educational, and employment histories. The three counselor groups were remarkably similar in their participation in 11 areas of job activities ranging from counseling duties per se through administrative support functions. The only reliable difference was the greater involvement of EXAs in counseling and community education activities which took them outside the program.

Paraprofessional Versus Professional Drug Counselors: The Progress of Clients in Treatment

The progress in treatment of 302 methadone maintenance and drug-free outpatient clients was examined as a function of the background of their 82 counselors. Counselors were either ex-addict paraprofessionals (EXAs), non-ex-addict paraprofessionals (NEAs), or degreed professional counselors (PROs). Client progress was assessed in five areas: drug use, criminality, educational activities, employment, and life quality. In the first four areas, status at treatment entry contrasted with that at two subsequent measurement points: the first interview and a 4-month follow-up. In no area of evaluation were outcomes substantially more favorable for clients of one counselor group over another. It was concluded that the three counselor groups were equally effective.

A Two-Year Evaluation of the Wood Rock Youth Development Project

The efficacy of a school-based initiative in reducing and/or preventing alcohol, tobacco, and drug (ATD) use in “at-risk” youth was examined. This evaluation represents a final report on the Woodrock Youth Development Project (YDP). Data from two cohorts, representing two academic program years, were combined to yield a final sample of 718 elementary and middle school youth. Youth were assigned randomly to either an experimental or control condition. Surveys containing several psychosocial measures were administered at pretest and posttest. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to examine the impact of YDP on ultimate and intermediate outcome variables. Findings indicated that YDP participation was related to significant reductions in self-reported substance abuse in the last month and in lifetime as well as improvements in race relations and self-reported school attendance. The findings are discussed in relation to the program and other prevention efforts.

An Outcome Evaluation of the Woodrock Youth Development Project

The Woodrock Youth Development Project (YDP) aims to reduce alcohol tobacco, and drug (ATOD) use among adolescents. The YDP targets riskfactors thatpredispose youth to substance abuse, such as low self-esteem, unhealthy attitudes toward substance abuse, and lack of knowledge about drug effects. The YDP aims to improve problem-solving and coping skills, to raise awareness about the dangers of substance abuse, and to improve self-perception through increasing academic achievement as well as fostering a sense of cultural pride. Participation in the YDP was shown to reduce the incidence of drug use. Among younger (6 through 9 years of age) participants, the program improved interracial relations and marginally boosted self-esteem and knowledge about ATOD use. Furtherresearch is needed, however, to determine why the programfailed toproduce improvements m these latter atitudinal risk factors among older (10 through 14 years of age) respondents.

Age and perceived effects of erotica-pornography: A national sample study

In the spring of 1970, a national sample survey of 2486 adults (aged 20–80) was studied to ascertain U.S. public attitudes toward and experience with erotic materials. Twelve items measured whether or not those interviewed believed that looking at or reading sexual materials had certain effects on themselves or others. Initial description of the results revealed a considerable diversity of opinion. This report provides a multistage typology of those item responses, beginning with characterization of items as positive, neutral, or negative in effect. Striking age gradients were observed at each stage in the typology formation. At first glance, these results are hardly surprising, yet introduction of controls for level of education, gender, and reported previous levels of actual exposure to erotica did not appreciably change the age-graded response pattern. The last stage in the typology contained four levels and showed a typical progression with increasing age. Younger age groups tended to attribute solely desirable and/or neutral effects to erotica. Those who expressed neutral and mixed (strongly positive and negative) views were somewhat older. The next age norms about explicit sexual materials took on a perception of no effects or a position of uncertainty. Finally, those who believed that pornography has largely or solely undesirable effects on its consumers were oldest. The replicability of the pattern suggests a specific order in the underlying process of change in values (historical and/or intraindividual).

A Re-Evaluation of Project PRIDE, a Redesigned School-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Program.

The present study examined the effectiveness of Project PRIDE, a school-based, counselor-administered, drug and alcohol prevention program. The study is presented in the context of Project PRIDEs efforts to keep itself current and effective via continual evaluation-based development. In this outcome evaluation, Project PRIDE participants demonstrated greater pretest to posttest gains on five of six outcome measures compared to control students, although many of the changes were small or moderate and only two were statistically significant. Further, as predicted, gains in more factual or objective areas of the program were greater than in more subjective areas dealing with student perceptions and feelings. The limitations and implications of the findings are discussed. Also discussed are the advantages of the Binomial Effect Size Display as a data presentation mode that promotes both client and general audience understanding of results.

Interviewing Minority Youth About Drug Use: Telephone vs. In-Person Surveys

As compared with face-to-face interviews about drug use, telephone interviews introduce sampling bias in that they exclude nontelephone households and are also more susceptible to certain response biases (e.g., underreporting, social desirability). The present study suggests that these biases may be particularly confounding for drug use surveys involving minority youth (age 18-25). Estimates of the prevalence of drug use, especially among minority populations, should correct for these systematic selection and mode-of-interview biases.