No abstract

Cigarette control laws can be effective in significantly reducing the rate of cigarettes sold by merchants and rates of cigarette use by adolescents. Key elements of successful legislation implementation are consistent compliance checking and heightened community awareness of the problems and prevalence of adolescent smoking.

This study examined the effects of the Positive Action (PA) programme in Chicago Public Schools on problem behaviours among a cohort of elementary school students from grade three through grade five. Using a matched-pair, randomised control design with 14 elementary schools, approximately 510 fifth-graders self-reported lifetime substance use, serious violence-related behaviour, and current bullying and disruptive behaviours. Three-level (i.e. students nested within schools within school pairs) overdispersed Poisson models were used to examine programme effects on the number of items endorsed for each of the four outcomes. Findings indicated that students in the intervention endorsed 31% fewer substance use behaviours (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.69), 37% fewer violence-related behaviours (IRR = 0.63) and 41% fewer bullying behaviours (IRR = 0.59), respectively, compared to students in the control schools. Reduction in reported disruptive behaviours was of a similar magnitude (27%, IRR = 0.73), but was not statistically significant. These results replicate findings of an earlier randomised trial of the PA programme and extend evidence of its effectiveness to youth attending large urban school systems.

No abstract

This study examined the psychometric properties of the revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) with one specialized population. A sample of 264 incarcerated women in a large, Midwest, maximum security correctional center reported on the conflict tactics they employed against their partner (self as aggressor) and their partner employed on them (self as victim). High chronicity and severity rates of partner violence were reported, and the psychometric properties of the CTS2 were altered. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four-factor solution for both the Self as Victim and Self as Aggressor subscales. These factors were labeled Negotiation, Sexual Coercion, Injury, and General Assault, which combined the Physical Assault and Psychological Aggression subscales originally proposed by the instrument's developers. Implications for the general use of the CTS2 and for use with incarcerated women are discussed.