Articles: Increasing Participation in Prevention Research: Strategies for Youths, Parents, and Schools

Abstract

Topic Subject participation is a critical concern for clinicians and researchers involved in prevention programs, especially for intensive interventions that require randomized assignment and lengthy youth and parent involvement. Purpose This paper describes details of an integrated approach used to recruit and retain at-risk high school youth, their parents and high schools to two different comprehensive “indicated” prevention programs. Sources used Parent and youth recruitment and retention data for the two studies is provided in support of the approach described. A coordinated, multi-level approach, organized around cross-cutting issues, is described in detail as a response to the challenges of including vulnerable populations in intervention research. Conclusion Methods are relevant to nurse clinicians who deliver prevention programs, and important to clinical research that relies upon adequate participation in research programs.

Trajectories of Parent–Adolescent Relationship Quality Among At-Risk Youth: Parental Depression and Adolescent Developmental Outcomes

“…Specifically, the results provide important new insights for health care professionals who work with high-risk youth in a range of settings. The results underscore the importance of understanding the impact of risks factors across the adolescent years, the need to include parents (Hooven et al, 2011), and to assess both positive and negative aspects of the parent–adolescent relationship in both treatment planning and research design. Given that the parent–adolescent relationship predicts adolescent adaptation (Brennan et al, 2003; Burt et al, 2006), the findings also point to opportunities for intervention.…”

“…This study was based on longitudinal data from Preventing Drug Abuse: Parents And Youth with Schools (PAYS) , a longitudinal study designed to evaluate the efficacy of the PAYS intervention program (see also Hooven, Walsh, Willgerodt, & Salazar, 2011). Participants in the initial study were chosen at random from a pool of adolescents at risk for school failure or dropout, using verified sampling criteria from school performance records including poor academic performance, poor attendance, and prior dropout status.…”

Do parent–child acculturation gaps affect early adolescent Latino alcohol use? A study of the probability and extent of use

“…Specifically, interventions that focus on parental involvement in schooling pose fewer obstacles and are likely to encounter less resistance from families than traditional approaches that openly emphasize the prevention of substance use [60]. In the present study, we define parental involvement as parental allocation of resources (e.g., time, cognitive and emotional resources) to child’s schooling in the three domains proposed by Hill and Tyson [52], i.e., home-based, school-based, and academic socialization.…”

Reconnecting with urban youth enrolled in a randomized controlled trial and overdue for a 12-month follow-up survey

“…The first two retention strategies (mailed reminders and retrying a non-working telephone number) were selected because they are used traditionally in research studies 19 and represent the methods by which teenagers commonly communicate with each other and with adults. 20, 21 The third and fourth retention strategies (social media and school staff assistance) were selected based on the current mode of communication known to be widely used among urban youth today 20 and on our relationship with the schools. Research staff was encouraged to try each of the four retention strategies and to record the date and time of each attempted contact.…”