This study examined a community-university partnership model for sustained, high-quality implementation of evidence-based interventions. In the context of a randomized study, it assessed whether implementation quality for both family-focused and school-based universal interventions could be achieved and maintained through community-university partnerships. It also conducted exploratory analyses of factors influencing implementation quality. Results revealed uniformly high rates of both implementation adherence-averaging over 90%-and of other indicators of implementation quality for both family-focused and school-based interventions. Moreover, implementation quality was sustained across two cohorts. Exploratory analyses failed to reveal any significant correlates for family-intervention implementation quality, but did show that some team and instructor characteristics were associated with school-based implementation quality.The extant literature clearly indicates the need to evaluate the quality of implementation of preventive interventions, particularly those that are evidence-based (Durlak, 1998;Goggin, Bowman, Lester, & O'Toole, 1990;Greenberg, Domitrovich, Graczyk, & Zins, 2001;Mihalic & Irwin, 2003). Although there is an expanding set of evidence-based interventions (hereafter EBIs) shown to be efficacious in reducing youth problem behaviors and promoting positive youth development, low-quality intervention implementation frequently diminishes positive outcomes (Backer, 2003;Domitrovich & Greenberg, 2000; Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). Quality monitoring is especially important when implementation occurs under real-world conditions, guided by community-based organizations or partnerships . Sustained, high quality implementation by communities is essential to the achievement of greater public health impact of EBIs Lamb, Greenlick, & McCarty, 1998;.Because of the importance of sustained, quality implementation of EBIs by communitybased partnerships, there is a need to systematically evaluate partnership models guiding such implementation . In addition, there is a need to study factors potentially influencing sustained, quality, community-based implementation of EBIs to better understand how to improve implementation systems (Fixsen et al., 2005;Greenberg et al., 2001). These research needs are addressed by the three objectives of the present study. The first objective is to examine adherence rates and other implementation quality ratings NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript achieved through a community-based model for EBI implementation. To study the sustainability of the partnership model, the second objective is to determine how well implementation quality was maintained over time. The third and final objective was to explore whether community team and intervention instructor factors were correlated with implementation quality for family-focused and school-based EBIs. Spoth, Guyll, Trudeau, and Goldberg-Lillehoj (2002) examined the implementat...

Few prevention studies have examined the degree to which different measures of program implementation adherence predict youth outcomes. The current study was conducted with rural middle school youth participating in a longitudinal school-based preventive intervention program. Study participants' average age at the pretest assessment was 12.3 years. The association between program implementation ratings supplied by provider self-reports and trained independent observer reports were evaluated. In addition, the relationship between measures of implementation and youth outcomes were examined. Results indicated that although program providers tended to report higher implementation than independent observers, most ratings were correlated significantly across raters. Observer-reported implementation ratings significantly predicted several youth substance-related outcomes, while provider-reported self-ratings did not. Program provider characteristics predicted several youth outcomes. Findings suggest that there might be a social desirability bias in provider self-reported ratings of implementation and that caution must be used when interpreting self-reported ratings of implementation.

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The worksite food environment, including vending options, has been explored as an important contributor to dietary decisions made every day. The current study describes the vending environment, and efforts to change it, in four Iowa worksites using a series of case studies. Data were gathered by local coordinators as part of the Iowa Community Transformation Grant project. Data were collected from three sources. First, the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Vending was used to assess healthy vending options in worksite machines before and after the intervention. Second, employee vending behavior was evaluated with a pre-, post-intervention survey. Items assessed attitudes and behaviors regarding vending, plus awareness and reaction to intervention activities. Third, program coordinators documented vending machine intervention strategies used, such as social marketing materials and product labels. The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Vending documented that the majority of vending options did not meet criteria for healthfulness. The vending survey found that employees were generally satisfied with the healthier items offered. Some differences were noted over time at the four worksites related to employee behavior and attitudes concerning healthy options. There were also differences in intervention implementation and the extent of changes made by vending companies. Overall, findings demonstrate that a large percentage of employees are constrained in their ability to access healthy foods due to limited worksite vending options. There also remain challenges to making changes in this environment. Findings have implications for public health practitioners to consider when designing healthy vending interventions in worksites.

Using latent growth curve modeling, the current study investigated gender moderation of the longitudinal pathways from internalizing to both social competency (i.e., social assertiveness) and the initiation of substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, marijuana), as well as the effect of a preventive intervention on that process. Rural Midwestern adolescents who were participating in a school-based preventive intervention study were an average of 12.3 years old at the pretest assessment conducted in 1998. A latent growth curve comparison analysis found that internalizing was related inversely to initial levels of social assertiveness skill among girls; further, internalizing was related positively to substance use initiation growth trajectories among girls. Girls who participated in the preventive intervention demonstrated a slower increase over time in substance use initiation and a faster increase in social assertiveness. Gender moderation of the impact of internalizing and social assertiveness on substance use initiation and response to the intervention, as well as the utility of latent growth curve modeling in the study of longitudinal change, are discussed.

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This study evaluated the effects of a school-based preventive intervention (Botvin, G. J. 1996, 2000) on growth trajectories of substance initiation (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana), expectancies, and refusal intentions. A rural midwestern sample (N=847) provided three waves of data from middle school students. Growth curve analyses demonstrated that the intervention significantly slowed the rate of increase in substance initiation and significantly slowed the rate of decrease in refusal intentions. The intervention also slowed the rate of decrease in negative outcome expectancies, although the significance level was only marginal. A multiple group comparison showed that the impact of initial levels of substance initiation on growth trajectories of refusal intentions differed between conditions, suggesting that the intervention decreased the effect of early substance initiation on the rate of change over time for refusal intentions. Gender differences also were found, although the intervention was effective in slowing the rate of increase in initiation for both genders.