Steven M. Giles

How all Stars Works: An Examination of Program Effects on Mediating Variables:

Prevention research continues to focus on school-based substance use programs aimed at adolescents. These programs are designed to reduce substance use and risk behavior by targeting key mediators, such as normative beliefs, which in turn reduce substance use. All Stars is a newly developed program that was recently evaluated in a randomized field trial in 14 middle schools in Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky. The authors examined targeted and nontargeted variables as possible mediators of program effectiveness. Findings indicate that All Stars achieved reductions in substance use and postponed sexual activity when teachers were successful at altering targeted mediators: normative beliefs, lifestyle incongruence, and manifest commitment to not use drugs. The program was not successful when it was delivered by specialists. At least in part, this failure is attributable to specialists’ inability to change mediators as intended by the program.

Evaluation of the All Stars Character Education and Problem Behavior Prevention Program: Effects on Mediator and Outcome Variables for Middle School Students

The effects of All Stars, a character education and problem behavior prevention program, on variables theorized to mediate problem behaviors and on the problem behavior variables of substance use, sexual behavior, and violence among middle school students are reported. In an independent, randomized, single-cohort, longitudinal evaluation of the program, 1,655 students completed pretest, posttest, and 1-year follow-up surveys measuring demographics, mediating variables, and behavioral outcome variables. Results indicate that the All Stars program, when administered by teachers, had an immediate effect on mediating variables that did not persist over time. Inclusion of ethnicity in the design showed that the program, when administered by specialists, had delayed effects on mediating variables for African American and Hispanic students. However, no consistent effects were found for student problem behaviors in either condition. Implications for prevention practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Calorie Restriction on Drinking Days: An Examination of Drinking Consequences among College Students.

Objective: This study examined the association between restricting calories on intended drinking days and drunkenness frequency and alcohol-related consequences among college students. Participants: Participants included a random sample of 4,271 undergraduate college students from 10 universities. Methods: Students completed a Web-based survey regarding their high-risk drinking behaviors and calorie restriction on intended drinking days. Results: Thirty-nine percent of past 30-day drinkers reported restricting calories on days they planned to drink alcohol, of which 67% restricted because of weight concerns. Restricting calories on drinking days was associated with greater odds of getting drunk in a typical week. Women who restricted were more likely to report memory loss, being injured, being taken advantage of sexually, and having unprotected sex while drinking. Men were more likely to get into a physical fight. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of considering weight control behaviors in the examination of high-risk college drinking.

Implementation Fidelity in a Teacher-Led Alcohol Use Prevention Curriculum.

There is now ample evidence that teachers tend to make substantial modifications to both the prescribed content and methods of the curricula they administer, and that such modifications are likely to attenuate curricula effects. We examine the fidelity with which teachers implement “Protecting You, Protecting Me,” an underage alcohol use prevention curriculum. Findings suggest that while teachers attempted to implement most sections of a lesson, the lessons taught were consistently—and often extensively—adapted. We conclude that since teachers are likely to continue to modify lessons, curriculum developers and trainers should enhance their understanding of how prevention curricula are taught under real world conditions, help teachers to reinforce key curriculum concepts, and consider modifying those curricular sections that teachers are adapting with greatest frequency.

Measuring Quality of Delivery in a Substance Use Prevention Program.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an observation measure designed to capture teachers’ use of interactive teaching skills within the delivery of the All Stars substance use prevention program. Coders counted the number of times teachers praised and encouraged students, accepted and used students’ ideas, asked questions, self-disclosed personal anecdotes, and corrected student misbehavior. These teacher behaviors loaded on three factors: classroom management, acknowledgment, and student-centered methods. Classroom management was negatively related to student engagement. Acknowledgment was negatively related to students’ normative beliefs. Student-centered methods were positively related to student idealism and normative beliefs, and marginally predicted decreases in student marijuana use. Editors’ Strategic Implications: The authors provide a promising approach to studying pedagogical prevention approaches, and they also link teaching processes to student outcomes. This study of program delivery should be of general interest (i.e., not limited to substance use prevention) to practitioners and researchers.

Three-Year Trajectory of Teachers’ Fidelity to a Drug Prevention Curriculum

Little is known about the trajectories over time of classroom teachers’ fidelity to drug prevention curricula. Using the “Concerns-Based Adoption Model” (C-BAM) as a theoretical framework, we hypothesized that teachers’ fidelity would improve with repetition. Participants comprised 23 middle school teachers who videotaped their administration of three entire iterations of the All Stars curriculum. Investigators coded two key curriculum lessons, specifically assessing the proportion of activities of each lesson teachers attempted and whether they omitted, added, or changed prescribed content, or delivered it using new methods. Study findings provided only partial support for the C-BAM model. Considerable variability in teachers’ performance over time was noted, suggesting that their progression over time may be nonlinear and dynamic, and quite possibly a function of their classroom and school contexts. There was also evidence that, by their third iteration of All Stars, teachers tended to regress toward the baseline mean. That is, the implementation quality of those that started out with high levels of fidelity tended to degrade, while those that started out with very low fidelity to the curriculum tended to improve. Study findings suggest the need for ongoing training and technical assistance, as well as “just in time” messages delivered electronically; but it is also possible that some prevention curricula may impose unrealistic expectations or burdens on teachers’ abilities and classroom time.

Styles of adaptation: The impact of frequency and valence of adaptation on preventing substance use

Purpose – To be effective, evidence‐based programs should be delivered as prescribed. This suggests that adaptations that deviate from intervention goals may limit a programs effectiveness. This study aims to examine the impact that number and quality of adaptations have on substance use outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined 306 video recordings of teachers delivering “All Stars”, a middle school drug prevention program. Multiple observers coded each recording, noting the number and type of adaptation each teacher made. Each adaptation was given a valence rating. Adaptations that were deleterious to program goals received negative valence ratings; positive ratings were given for adaptations that were likely to facilitate achievement of program goals; neutral ratings were given to adaptations that were expected to have neither a positive nor negative impact on program goals.Findings – All teachers made adaptations. Teachers were consistent across time in the types of adaptations they...

Teacher Training in Norm Setting Approaches to Drug Education: A Pilot Study Comparing Standard and Video-Enhanced Methods.

Norm setting has been shown to be a crucial element of effective drug education. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which a videotape describing concepts and methods for establishing positive norms would enhance standard training. Participants included 35 teachers and 64 health education students who were randomly assigned to the standard training condition or the video-enhanced training. Participants completed pretest and posttest measures of beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge concerning prevention methods. Both the standard and the video-based instruction produced improved understanding of norms and norm setting prevention methods. However, the video-based instruction resulted in several notable improvements beyond what was achieved in standard instruction. Video training can be an important tool as research-based drug abuse prevention achieves wide-scale dissemination. It offers a way of standardizing training and has the potential to increase the fidelity with which prevention programs are implemented.

Simplifying the Delivery of a Prevention Program with Web-Based Enhancements

The ease with which prevention programs can be delivered may impact whether or not they are implemented as designed. This paper presents a website with enhancements designed to make delivery of the All Stars substance use prevention program easier. Administrative tasks, such as completing paperwork associated with program delivery were automated using web technology. A pilot study of the web site was conducted with program instructors. There was a significant improvement in teachers’ perceived ease of program delivery. Modest correlation coefficients were found for the relationship between ease of delivery of specific program activities and adherence to these activities.

Using modern methods for missing data analysis with the social relations model: A bridge to social network analysis

Abstract Social network analysis identifies social ties, and perceptual measures identify peer norms. The social relations model (SRM) can decompose interval-level perceptual measures among all dyads in a network into multiple person- and dyad-level components. This study demonstrates how to accommodate missing round-robin data using Bayesian data augmentation, including how to incorporate partially observed covariates as auxiliary correlates or as substantive predictors. We discuss how data augmentation opens the possibility to fit SRM to network ties (potentially without boundaries) rather than round-robin data. An illustrative application explores the relationship between sorority members’ self-reported body comparisons and perceptions of friends’ body talk.