Browsed by
Tag: Youth

iTRAC Emotion Regulation + Substance Use Prevention

iTRAC Emotion Regulation + Substance Use Prevention

Klein Buendel Investigators, Ms. Julia Berteletti and Dr. W. Gill Woodall, are collaborating with Dr. Chris Houck from Rhode Island Hospital and Dr. Stephanie Parade from Brown University on a new 5-year project to integrate substance use content with iTRAC emotion regulation material to reduce substance use among child welfare involved youth. The web-based intervention is being developed and evaluated in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

Nearly 700,000 children experience maltreatment each year, and youth with a maltreatment history are at heightened risk for substance use across the lifespan. Emotion regulation is a modifiable mechanism underlying the impact of maltreatment on risk behaviors but is often impaired in youth with a maltreatment history due to the neurotoxic effects of early trauma/neglect and inconsistent modeling of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Emotion regulation is related to substance use in adolescence, and interventions to support the development of adaptive emotion regulation in youth with a maltreatment history have outstanding potential to interrupt trajectories of risk and prevent substance use. However, youth with a maltreatment history often face structural and psychosocial barriers to engagement. Furthermore, the child welfare system, which is designed to protect and support youth with maltreatment histories, is under resourced and often unable to meet the critical needs for prevention in this population. Interventions targeting substance use with this population must be acceptable, easily accessible, and low resource for the child welfare system.

During the Planning and Intervention Enhancement Phase (R61), the investigators will interview adolescents, caregivers, and child welfare professionals to obtain diverse perspectives regarding the integration of emotion regulation and substance use. They will create and program this content within the iTRAC framework, followed by acceptability testing to ensure usability and understanding. Upon completion of Phase 1, the team will begin Phase 2 (R33), during which a Stage III real-world efficacy (hybrid efficacy-effectiveness) trial of 200 youth with maltreatment histories will evaluate the iTRAC for Substance Use (iTRAC-SU) intervention.

Phase 1 – Planning and Intervention Enhancement (R61) Specific Aims

Aim 1: To create and integrate digital content linking substance use with ER into existing iTRAC modules. Information gathered via qualitative interviews with adolescents, caregivers, and staff in the child welfare system will be used to develop the substance use content.

Aim 2: To assess acceptability and usability with 10 adolescents (representing diverse backgrounds) over two iterative rounds of feedback.

Aim 3: To ensure successful completion of the Phase 2 Aims, planning activities with Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families. will take place to establish procedures for developing the workforce for the project, recruiting families, and avoiding interference by research in the critical mission of Department of Children, Youth, and Families programs.

Phase 2 – Randomized Trial (R33) Specific Aims

Aim 4: To conduct a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the iTRAC-SU intervention on substance use relative to a waitlist control among 200 adolescents ages 12 to 15.

Aim 5: To examine iTRAC-SU relative to a waitlist control in enhancing theoretically important emotional competencies (such as emotion regulation, emotion recognition, distress tolerance) that mediate risk as measured by self-report, performance measures, caregiver report, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

Aim 6: To examine the feasibility, acceptability, uptake, and costs of iTRAC-SU when implemented with child welfare involved youth.

This research project was awarded to the Rhode Island Hospital by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (DA059785; Dr. Chris Houck and Dr. Stephanie Parade, Multiple Principal Investigators). Collaborators include Ms. Julia Berteletti and Dr. W. Gill Woodall from Klein Buendel, and the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The enhanced iTRAC modules will be designed and programmed by the Creative Team at Klein Buendel.

Challenging Violence in the Media

Challenging Violence in the Media

Klein Buendel and the Center for Media Literacy in California are launching a new research project to update and translate Beyond Blame: Challenging Violence in the Media, an evidence-based media-literacy violence prevention curriculum for middle school students, formerly delivered in person, into an interactive technology-based platform. Beyond Blame, developed by the Center for Media Literacy, is a theory-based curriculum that underwent a rigorous long-term evaluation, in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Violence prevention programs, including school-based education programs, are recommended to address youth violence.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “youth violence is a serious public health problem and that an adverse childhood experience can have a long-term impact on health and well-being, disproportionately impacting communities of color.” Violence affects thousands of youths each day as well as their families, schools, and communities. CDC reports that youth can be involved in violence as a victim, offender, or witness. Homicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24 and the leading cause of death for non-Hispanic Black or African American youth.1,2 However, youth violence is preventable and the development of evidence-based approaches that address the factors to decrease the risk of violence, buffer against that risk, and promote positive youth development and well-being3 are imperative.  

A number of factors exist that may increase or decrease the possibility of youth experiencing or enacting violence. Media violence has long been identified by public health as a risk factor and violent content in television, social media, and video games has been associated with aggression and youth violence. Yet, media literacy programs are often not included in violence prevention efforts. Media literacy is recognized as a life skill to strengthen and provide resiliency for an individual’s ability to resist negative and harmful messages that are powerfully packaged and promoted in the media.

Today, youth live in an unprecedented mediated environment. With technology allowing 24-hour media access, the amount of time youth spend with media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. This is evidenced by widespread media usage by middle school children: 98% watch television, 78% use tablets, 67% interact with smart phones, 73% use computers, and 68% use gaming devices. Children ages 8-12 in the U.S. average 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens. To help children navigate this mediated environment, media literacy education provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate using media in a variety of forms, including videos, social media (such as TikTok and You Tube), video games, film, and television.  

Upon completing Beyond Blame in person, students significantly increased their knowledge of the Five Core Concepts/Key Questions of media literacy, increased recognition of their exposure to media violence, and had stronger beliefs that media violence affects users. The original Beyond Blame aligns with the Common Core standards identified for Language Arts, and the technology-based curriculum will adhere to the same standards along with the International Society for Technology in Education Standards that ensure that using technology for learning can create high-impact, sustainable, scalable, and equitable learning experiences for all learners. 

This research is supported by a grant from the CDC (CE003635). The project team will be led by Multiple Principal Investigators, Dr. Barbara Walkosz, a Senior Scientist at Klein Buendel, and Ms. Tessa Jolls, President of the Center for Media Literacy and will be joined by a Co-Investigator, Dr. Christine Rizzo from Northeastern University in Massachusetts. The Klein Buendel Creative Team will design and program the Beyond Blame prototype. 

References

  1. David-Ferdon C, Clayton HB, Dahlberg LL, et al. Vital signs: Prevalence of multiple forms of violence and increased health risk behaviors and conditions among youths – United States, 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70(5):167-173. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7005a4.PMC7861486  
  2. Sheats KJ, Irving SM, Mercy JA, et al. Violence-related disparities experienced by black youth and young adults: opportunities for prevention. Am J Prev Med. 2018;55(4):462-469. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.05.017.PMC6691967 
  3. youth.gov. Youth topics: violence prevention. Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs. Available at: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/violence-prevention. Accessed March 28, 2022. 
Parenting Now Launch

Parenting Now Launch

Klein Buendel, Inc. is collaborating with Dr. Michael Hecht and his team at REAL Prevention LLC on a new research project to develop and evaluate Parenting Now, a digitized adaptation of Dr. Robert Turrisi’s parent-based teen alcohol prevention program, the Parent Handbook. The Parent Handbook is one of only two family-based interventions recommended in FACING ADDICTION IN AMERICA: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health.

In this new study, the hard copy/pdf-formatted Parent Handbook, which targets parents of college-bound youth, is being adapted for parents of high school-aged children and being programmed for interactive technology-based delivery. “Parenting Now will give parents in the digital age access to content on the go and at convenient intervals through their multiple and mobile devices,” explained Dr. Michael Hecht, the Parenting Now Project’s Principal Investigator.

The Phase II SBIR research team is (1) developing core Parenting Now modules to address essential topics such as improving communication and parent permissiveness toward adolescent drinking, (2) customizing additional topics to parents’ specific interests, and (3) personalizing the program to parents’ communication styles. “Having both core modules and optional content will allow parents to customize or click through the curriculum, a feature of digital information that makes it more engaging,” said Dr. Hecht. “Parenting Now will personalize the skills to match the parent’s existing communication style, a key feature of engaging technology.”

The research project will conduct a rigorous randomized controlled trial using a nationally-representative sample through GfK Global and an active control condition. The study is evaluating Parenting Now’s effects on youth alcohol use and other substance use (marijuana use, nicotine use, and their combined use with alcohol). Researchers are examining the process of how Parenting Now influences parents’ behaviors and how these in turn influence students’ behaviors.

The Parenting Now Project is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA025293; Dr. Michael Hecht, REAL Prevention, Principal Investigator). Research collaborators include Dr. Anne Ray from Rutgers University and Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel. Klein Buendel’s Creative Team is building the latest version of Parenting Now, expanding on the prototype they developed for the companion Phase I SBIR project.