Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Teasing Apart a Multiple Component Approach to Adolescent Alcohol Prevention: What Worked in Project Northland?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Prevention Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a post hoc component analysis designed to tease apart the effects of different intervention strategies used in Project Northland, a group-randomized, community-wide, multi-level intervention trial originally conducted in the 1990's to prevent and reduce alcohol use among a cohort of mainly White students in rural Minnesota. This study focuses on Phase I, when students were in 6th–8th grade. The intervention during this phase included five components: classroom curricula, peer leadership, youth-driven/led extra-curricular activities, parent involvement programs, and community activism. Student exposure to/participation in these components was followed over time using reliable process measures. These measures were used as time-varying covariates in growth curve analyses to estimate the effects of the intervention components over time. Multi-item scales from annually-administered student surveys were used to measure relevant outcome variables, like alcohol use. The impact of the components appears to have been differential. The strongest effects were documented for the planners of extra-curricular activities and parent program components. The classroom curricula proved moderately effective, but no effects were associated with differential levels of community activism. The interactions tested here did not provide support for synergistic effects between selected intervention components. Care must be taken when selecting and combining intervention strategies meant to reduce adolescent alcohol use.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biglan, A., Ary, D. V., Smolkowski, T. D., and Black, C. (2000). A randomized controlled trial of a community intervention to prevent adolescent tobacco use. Tobacco Control, 9, 24–32.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Birnbaum, A. S., Lytle, L. A., Story, M., Perry, C. L., Murray, D. M. (2002). Are differences in exposure to a multicomponent school-based intervention associated with varying dietary outcomes in adolescents? Health Education and Behavior, 29(4), 427–443.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carmona, M., and Stewart, K. (1996). A review of alternative activities and alternative programs in youth-oriented prevention. Rockville, MD: Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, T. D., and Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuijpers, P. (2002). Effective ingredients of school-based drug prevention programs: A systematic review. Addictive Behaviors, 27, 1009–1023.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dusenbury, L., and Falco, M. (1995). Eleven components of effective drug abuse prevention curricula. Journal of School Health, 65(10), 420–425.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Du Toit, S., Du Toit, M., and Cudeck, R. (1999). Introduction to the analysis of multilevel models with LISREL ® 8.30. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flay, B. R. (2000). Approaches to substance use prevention utilizing school curriculum plus social environment change. Addictive Behaviors, 25(6), 861–885.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Flay, B. R., and Petraitis, J. (1994). The theory of triadic influence: A new theory of health behavior with implications for preventive interventions. In G. S. Albrecht (Ed.), Advances in medical sociology, vol IV: A reconsideration of models of health behavior change (pp. 19–44). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman, D. M., and Speer, J. D. (1996). Preventing alcohol abuse and alcohol-related problems through community interventions: A review of evaluation studies. Psychology and Health, 11, 95–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, W. B. (1993). School-based alcohol prevention programs. Alcohol Health and Research World, 17(1), 54–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joreskog, K., Sorbom, D., Du Toit, S., Du Toit, M. (1999). LISREL ® 8: New Statistical Features. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komro, K. A., Perry, C. L., Murray, D. M., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Williams, C. L., and Anstine, P. S. (1996). Peer-planned social activities for preventing alcohol use among young adolescents. Journal of School Health, 66(9), 328–334.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Komro, K. A., Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Stigler, M. H., Farbakhsh, K., and Veblen-Mortenson, S. (2001). How did Project Northland reduce alcohol use among youth?: Analysis of mediating variables. Health Education Research, 16(1), 59–70.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Komro, K. A., Perry, C. L., Veblen-Mortenson, S., and Williams, C. L. (1994). Peer participation in Project Northland: A community-wide alcohol use prevention project. Journal of School Health, 64(8), 318–322.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Komro, K. A., and Toomey, T. L. (2002). A research review of strategies to prevent underage drinking. Alcohol Health and Research World, 26(1), 5–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumpfer, K. L. (2000). Strengthening family involvement in school substance abuse programs. In W. B. Hansen, S. M. Giles, and M. D. Fearnow-Kenny (Eds.), Improving prevention effectiveness (pp. 127–137). Greensboro, NC: Tanglewood Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, D. M. (1998). Design and analysis of group-randomized trials. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (1997). Preventing drug use among children and adolescents. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norman, G. R., and Streiner, D. L. (2000). Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials (2nd ed.). Hamilton, Ontario: B. C. Decker, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pentz, M. A., Dwyer, J. H., MacKinnon, D. P., Flay, B. R., Hansen, W. B., Wang, E. Y. I., and Johnson, C. A. (1989). A multicommunity trial for primary prevention of adolescent drug abuse. Journal of the American Medical Association, 261, 3259–3266.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L. (1999). Creating health behavior change: How to develop community-wide programs for youth. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L. (2000). Preadolescent and adolescent influences on health. In B. D. Smedley and S. L. Syme (Eds.)Promoting health: Intervention strategies from social and behavioral research (pp. 217–253). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

  • Perry, C. L., Kelder, S. H., Murray, D. M., and Klepp, K. I. (1992). Communitywide smoking prevention: Long-term outcomes of the Minnesota Heart Health Program and the Class of 1999 study. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 1210–1216.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Forster, J. L., Wolfson, M., Wagenaar, A. C., Finnegan, J. R., McGovern, P. G., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Komro, K. A., and Anstine, P. S. (1993). Background, conceptualization, and design of a community-wide research program on adolescent alcohol use: Project Northland. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 8(1), 125–136.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Komro, K. A., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Forster, J. L., Bernstein-Lachter, R., Pratt, L. K., Munson, K. A., and Farbakhsh, K. (1998, February). Project Northland – Phase II: Community action to reduce adolescent alcohol use. Paper presented at the Fourth Symposium on Community Action Research and the Prevention of Alcohol and other Drug Problems: A Kettil Bruun Society Thematic Meeting, Russell, New Zealand.

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Komro, K. A., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Forster, J. L., Lachter, R. B., Pratt, L. K., Dudovitz, B., Munson, K. A., Farbakhsh, K., Finnegan, J., and McGovern, P. (2000). Project Northland high school interventions: Community action to reduce adolescent alcohol use. Health Education and Behavior, 27(1), 29–49.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Komro, K. A., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Stigler, M. H., Munson, K., Farbakhsh, K., Jones, R. M., and Forster, J. L. (2002). Project Northland: Long-term outcomes of community action to reduce adolescent alcohol use. Health Education and Behavior, 17(1), 117–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L., Williams, C. L., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Toomey, T., Komro, K., Anstine, P. S., McGovern, P., Finnegan, J. R., Forster, J. L., Wagenaar, A. C., and Wolfson, M. (1996). Outcomes of a community-wide alcohol use prevention program during early adolescence: Project Northland. Am Journal of Public Health, 86(7), 956–965.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W. (2001). Comparing personal trajectories and drawing causal inferences from longitudinal data. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 501–25.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., and Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resnicow, K., Royce, J., Vaughan, R., Orlandi, M. A., and Smith, M. (1997). Analysis of a multicomponent smoking cessation project: what worked and why. Preventive Medicine, 26, 373–381.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., and Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoth, R., Redmond, C., and Lepper, H. (1999). Alcohol initiation outcomes of a universal family-focused prevention intervention: One- and two-year follow-ups of a controlled study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 13, 103–111.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tobler, N. S., Roona, M. R., Ochshorn, P., Marshall, D. G., Streke, A. V., and Stackpole, K. M. (2000). School-based adolescent drug prevention programs: 1998 meta-analysis. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 20(4), 275–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobler, N. S., and Stratton, H. H. (1997). Effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs: A meta-analysis of the research. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 18, 71–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toomey, T. L., Williams, C. L., Perry, C. L., Murray, D. M., Dudovitz, B., and Veblen-Mortenson, S. (1996). An alcohol primary prevention program for parents of 7th graders: The Amazing Alternatives! home program. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 5(4), 35–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, G., and Shepherd, J. (1999). A method in search of a theory: peer education and health promotion. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 14(2), 235–247.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Veblen-Mortenson, S., Rissel, C., Perry, C. L., Forster, J., Wolfson, M., and Finnegan, J. R. (1999). Lessons learned from Project Northland: Community organization in rural communities. In N. Bracht (Ed.), Health promotion at the community level: New advances (Vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica-tions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagenaar, A. C., and Perry, C. L. (1994). Community strategies for the reduction of youth drinking: theory and application. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 4, 319–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, S. G., and Aiken, L. S. (1997). Toward understanding individual effects in multicomponent prevention programs: Design and analysis strategies. In K. J. Bryant, M. Windle, and S. G. West (Eds.), The science of prevention: Methodological advances from alcohol and substance abuse research (pp. 167–210). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. L., Perry, C. L., Dudovitz, B., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Anstine, P. S., Komro, K. A., and Toomey, T. L. (1995). A home-based prevention program for sixth-grade alcohol use: Results from Project Northland. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 16(2), 125–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. L., Toomey, T. L., McGovern, P., Wagenaar, A. C., and Perry, C. L. (1995). Development, reliability, and validity of self-report alcohol use measures with young adolescents. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 4(3), 17–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was provided by grants R01-AA08596 and R01-AA10791 (to Cheryl L. Perry and Carolyn L. Williams, Principal Investigators) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the University of Minnesota (1990–99).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    Melissa H. Stigler, Cheryl L. Perry & Carolyn L. Williams

  2. Institute for Child Health Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Kelli A. Komro

  3. Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Robert Cudeck

Authors
  1. Melissa H. Stigler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheryl L. Perry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kelli A. Komro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Robert Cudeck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Carolyn L. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melissa H. Stigler.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stigler, M.H., Perry, C.L., Komro, K.A. et al. Teasing Apart a Multiple Component Approach to Adolescent Alcohol Prevention: What Worked in Project Northland?. Prev Sci 7, 269–280 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-006-0040-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-006-0040-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation