sCommunities are at many different stages of readiness for implementing programs, and this readiness is to be a major factor in determining whether a local program can be effectively implemented and supported by the community. The Community Readiness Model was developed to meet research needs, (e.g., matching treatment and control communities for an experimental intervention) as well as to provide a practical tool to help communities mobile for change. The model defines nine stages of community readiness ranging from "no awareness" of the problem to "professionalization" in the response to the problem within the community. Assessment of the stage of readiness is accomplished using key informant interviews, with questions on six different dimensions related to a community's readiness to mobilize to address a specific issue. Based on experiences in working directly with communities, strategies for successful effort implementation have been developed for each stage of readiness. Once a community has achieved a stage of readiness where local efforts can be initiated, community teams can be trained in use of the community readiness model. These teams can then develop specific, culturally appropriate efforts

Communities are at many different stages of readiness for implementing programs, and this readiness is to be a major factor in determining whether a local program can be effectively implemented and supported by the community. The Community Readiness Model was developed to meet research needs, (e.g., matching treatment and control communities for an experimental intervention) as well as to provide a practical tool to help communities mobile for change. The model defines nine stages of community readiness ranging from “no awareness” of the problem to “professionalization” in the response to the problem within the community. Assessment of the stage of readiness is accomplished using key informant interviews, with questions on six different dimensions related to a community's readiness to mobilize to address a specific issue. Based on experiences in working directly with communities, strategies for successful effort implementation have been developed for each stage of readiness. Once a community has achieved a stage of readiness where local efforts can be initiated, community teams can be trained in use of the community readiness model. These teams can then develop specific, culturally appropriate efforts that use local resources to guide the community to more advanced levels of readiness, eventually leading to long‐term sustainability of local community efforts. This article presents the history of the development of the model, the stages of readiness, dimensions used to assess readiness, how readiness is assessed and strategies for change at each level of readiness. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

No abstract

Administered anonymous surveys asking about drug use, emotional distress, and peer drug associations to 11th and 12th grade high school students (N = 563). Emotional distress variables accounted for only 4.8% of the variance in drug use. The addition of peer drug associations as a predictor variable increased the variance accounted for to 43.4%. A path model of adolescent drug use based on peer cluster theory was tested using LISREL, and this provided a good fit with the data. As predicted, peer drug associations dominated the prediction of drug use and mediated the effect of emotional distress on drug use, with the exception of a small residual path directly from anger to drug use. The hypothesis that young people take drugs to alleviate emotional distress does not hold up well; emotional distress variables, with the exception of anger, produced only very small and indirect links to drug use.

The Suinn Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale, Elementary Form (MARS-E) is described along with validity and reliability information. The scale is composed of 26 items which assess the degree to which students experience anxiety in specific life situations. Psychometric data were obtained on 1,119 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from six schools. Results indicated that the MARS-E scores are significantly correlated with achievement scores from the Stanford Achievement Test on mathematics skills. Factor analysis identified two factors, named mathematics test anxiety, and mathematics performance evaluation anxiety.