An investigation of health decision-making skills among American Indian adolescents.

The investigation examined the health and social decision-making skills of a sample of 44 seventh-graders (mean age = 12.6 years) of American Indian descent. The students were presented with 10 scenarios describing a young person in the act of making a decision and were required to identify the next step the youth in the scenario should take to make a wise decision. There were no differences in the students\u27 efficacy in making decisions with a health or social focus. However, some interesting differential patterns emerged for making health and social decisions. These findings may be beneficial to school health curriculum specialists, school psychologists, health behavior specialists, and health personnel who interact regularly with American Indian adolescents

Let the Circle be Unbroken helps African-Americans prevent teen pregnancy.

Strategies must be developed to address the high rate of adolescent pregnancy among Blacks in the US and the adverse consequences of premature parenting. A number of programs and strategies have been developed and are being implemented in various sites across the US. The Let the Circle Be Unbroken: Rites of Passage program is an effort to incorporate an Afrocentric conceptual model into a prevention program. It involves adapting socialization processes often observed in African cultures, which openly acknowledge the need to formally help adolescents during their transition from childhood to adulthood. That socialization process tends to be a cultural experience which requires that ideology, education, training, and culture be taught before an activity or celebration marking the successful transition from one stage of development to another. The Rites of Passage approach follows these basic premises to teach adolescents the knowledge and skills needed to become responsible community members and spiritually mature adults. It is specifically designed to help young people build self-esteem; enhance self-image; develop leadership skills, cultural awareness, and appreciation; and make healthy, productive, and self-affirming life choices

Effects of a preventive alcohol education program after three years

A three-year evaluation of Nebraska students (N = 130) was conducted to gauge the long-term influence of an initial preventive alcohol education intervention. The initial intervention was developed around the inoculation model of McGuire which proposes that individuals can be inoculated against persuasive verbal appeals and thus resist specific pressures. Students in the initial program were assessed and found to be highly susceptible to peer pressure to misuse alcohol. Subjects were followed through their junior year in high school and assessed on the following self-report alcohol-related behaviors: frequency of riding with drinking drivers; frequency of drinking and, frequency of drinking to excess. Cognitive areas assessed included items assessing the concept of tolerance to alcohol. Results suggest that after three years frequency of risky alcohol-related behavior between experimental and control students was not significantly different. Assessments of cognitive items revealed no statistically significant differences between experimental and control students. When viewed in context with prior evaluations of these subjects at two-weeks and six-months time, the findings are disappointing yet informative. The claim that specific \u27educational inoculation\u27 strategies play a long-term role in delaying the initiation of risky health behavior in adolescents is discussed. The judicious integration of periodic, sequential, and meaningful booster components into school-based environments is recommended as a potential way to achieve a more lasting effect in preventive inoculation efforts

Age of onset, periods of risk, and patterns of progression in drug use among american indian high school students

A sample of 277 Native American students (grades 7 to 12) was surveyed to examine the age of onset, patterns of progression, and periods of risk for drug use. Results suggest that Native American youth begin smoking cigarettes and marijuana, drinking, sniffing solvents, and using cocaine as early as 10 years of age. The period of risk for initiation of drug use was between the ages of 10 and 13 years. Implications for drug use prevention-education programming are presented. © 1987 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted

Health promotion efforts in an isolated Hispanic community: The mora substance abuse prevention project

A high rate of substance abuse in a small, largely Hispanic town in the Southwestern United States, provided the impetus for a health promotion program to reduce substance abuse and driving under the influence of intoxicants among junior high and high school students. Community and school leaders were instrumental in gaining the cooperation necessary to implement the program. Preliminary results indicate changes in knowledge and intentions, but not behaviors

Building self-esteem through social skills training and cultural awareness: A community-based approach for preventing violence among African American youth

In West Tennessee, the Juvenile Court Report indicated that African American male youths were six times as likely to be referred on aggravated assault charges, and were taken into protective custody four times as often as their white counterparts. This study aimed to help lessen the likelihood of African American male youths\u27 involvement with the juvenile justice system by: (a) assisting them in developing positive self-esteem; (b) teaching them decision-making and conflict resolution skills; and (c) exposing them to their culture and heritage. A sample of 122 African American male students were drawn from public schools in West Tennessee. The Stephan-Rosenfield Racial Attitude Scale and Banks Attitude Scale were used to assess students\u27 level of self-esteem. Findings revealed that the mean scores on participants\u27 concept of their physical characteristics and ethnic identity improved at post-program, whereas attitudes toward their neighborhood and school did not. Only students within the age range 10-11 years showed an improvement in their mean scores for physical self-concept and attitude towards African Americans relative to those in 8-9 and 12-14 age categories. Lessons learned and implications for violence prevention programs for at-risk populations are discussed

Decision making correlates of depressive symptoms among african-american adolescents: Implications for prevention approaches?

Depression is the most common disorder of all mental illnesses. According to Healthy People 2010, one in five children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 17 years has a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Adolescent depression is associated with impairment of functioning particularly in the domains of decision making and self-efficacy. The present investigation examined the relationship between depressive symptoms and decision making among a nonreferred, nonclinical community sample of 276 low-income African-American adolescents. The students ranged in age from 12 to 17 years. The Children\u27s Depression Inventory (CDI) was used to assess depressive symptomatology among participants. The Flinders Adolescent Decision Making Questionnaire was used for assessing participants\u27 decision making and decision coping patterns. The instrument was group-administered in classroom settings by a health educator and a clinical psychology graduate student. Findings indicated a significant correlation between adolescents\u27 self-reported depressive symptomatology, as represented by their CDI scores, and inadequacy toward making decisions. Perhaps increasing competence in decision making may have beneficial effects on overall mood and depressive symptoms among at-risk adolescent populations. © 2002 Taylor and Francis Group, LTD

Depressive symptoms and decision making among African American youth

Childhood and adolescent depression has emerged as a public health concern because of its impairment of functioning, particularly in the domains of decision making and self-efficacy. The present investigation examines the association between depressive symptoms and decision coping patterns among a nonreferred, nonclinical community sample of 276 low-income African American adolescents. The students ranged in age from 12 to 17 years. The Children\u27s Depression Inventory was used to assess participants\u27 depressive symptomatology. The Flinders Adolescent Decision Making Questionnaire was used for assessing participants\u27 decision coping patterns. The instrument was group administered in classroom settings by the research staff. Findings indicated a significant association between depressive symptomatology and the use of maladaptive decision coping patterns. Perhaps increasing competence in decision making may have beneficial effects on overall mood and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents