Exploratory trial of a school-based alcohol prevention intervention with a family component

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Abstract Purpose -Involvement of parents/carers may increase effectiveness of primary school-based alcoholmisuse prevention projects through strengthening family-based protective factors, but rates of parental engagement are typically low. This paper reports findings from an exploratory trial of a school-based prevention intervention -Kids, Adults Together (KAT), based on the Social Development Model, which aimed to promote pro-social family communication in order to prevent alcohol misuse, and incorporated strategies to engage parents/carers. The purpose of this paper is to assess the feasibility and value of conducting an effectiveness trial of KAT. Design/methodology/approach -The study was a parallel-group cluster randomised exploratory trial with an embedded process evaluation. The study took place in south Wales, UK, and involved nine primary schools, 367 pupils in Years 5/6 (aged 9-11 years) and their parents/carers and teachers. Questionnaires were completed by pupils at baseline and four month follow-up, and by parents at six month follow-up. Findings -Overall KAT was delivered with good fidelity, but two of five intervention schools withdrew from the study without completing implementation. In total, 50 per cent of eligible parents participated in the intervention, and KAT had good acceptability among pupils, parents and teachers. However, a number of "progression to effectiveness trial" criteria were not met. Intermediate outcomes on family communication (hypothesised to prevent alcohol misuse) showed insufficient evidence of an intervention effect. Difficulties were encountered in identifying age appropriate outcome measures for primary school-age children, particularly in relation to family communication processes. The study was unable to find comprehensive methodological guidance on exploratory trials.Research limitations/implications -It would not be appropriate to conduct an effectiveness trial as key progression criteria relating to intervention and trial feasibility were not met. There is a need for new measures of family communication which are suitable for primary school-age children, and more guidance on the design and conduct of exploratory/feasibility trials. Or...

Preventing alcohol misuse in young people: an exploratory cluster randomised controlled trial of the Kids, Adults Together (KAT) programme

“…A number of these areas may be of more general importance in prevention of alcohol misuse: 1 This report describes an exploratory trial of Kids, Adults Together (KAT), a primary school-based, universal programme to promote prosocial family communication about alcohol, with the aim of preventing alcohol misuse in young people. This chapter summarises the literature on early preventative interventions for alcohol misuse, and describes the background and theoretical basis of KAT and the aims and objectives of the trial.…”

Parental engagement in school-based health promotion and education

“…However, this same literature also reports barriers to engagement, with parents from challenging social, financial and educational circumstances facing the greatest difficulties (see Kim, 2009; Lewis et al ., 2011; Condon and McClean, 2017). School-based health intervention studies (see Segrott et al ., 2016) have reported some of the challenges of recruiting and engaging parents in school initiatives. Explanations for (lack of) involvement have largely focussed on individual, rather than school-level (or contextual) factors, and have assumed deficits in parental knowledge, attitudes and confidence in relation to health.…”