opportunities for positive approaches to reducing underage drinking dr lisa buckley
TRANSCRIPT
Opportunities for positive approaches to reducing underage drinking
Dr Lisa Buckley
Overview
• Alcohol experiences among teenagers• Protective factors• Key design issues• Example: a school-based program, Skills
for Preventing Injury in Youth
Alcohol and underage use
National picture
Alcohol and underage use
Year 9s (n=661, mean age=13.6 years) in past 6 months
– 11% injured in a situation where they were also drinking
• Drunk alcohol (males - 41%, females – 38%)
• Drunk alcohol and vomited/ passed out (males - 6%, females – 5%)
Beliefs
Family
Friends
Wider school &
community
Teachers
Skills for Preventing Injury in Youth (SPIY): Program goals
Reduce risk taking• Interpersonal violence• Transport related risks• Alcohol use
Encourage adolescents to protect their friends Increase first aid skills Increase school connectedness
How is SPIY taught?• Integrated with the curriculum
• Taught by teachers trained in program delivery and connectedness
• Year 9 Health Education• approximately 1 school term
• Age-appropriate (research based1)• Personally, developmentally and culturally relevant• Interactive discussions based on scenarios• Practical exercises
8
Why first aid?• Emphasise that risk taking behaviour has serious injury
consequences• Make injury more realistic and meaningful• Develop coping skills to minimise harm• Emphasise the importance of getting help, even in risk-taking
situations• Integrate with Year 9 Health curriculum• Provides job skills
Looking out for friends
• Prosocial behaviour is valued
• College students protect their friends from drink driving
• High school students intervene in their friend’s drinking, illegal drug use and smoking
Intervening• Strategies:
– “tell them the repercussions of it”– “you have to talk to your good friends”– “kind of watching the amount (he drinks)”– “take them away from the situation”– “go to the movies”
• Considerations: – “sometimes you have to be the bad guy. I get really
nervous”– “you’ve gotta have a bit of confidence in yourself”– “you get a feeling that you get a bit more respect as well”
Parents
• Parental involvement• General communication
• Parental modelling• Limit access
Strategies used to encourage school connectedness among students
Theme Example quote
Strength focus
Everyone should have a little job, to teach that kid to do something, to get something positive out of them. Most kids disengaged from school are the kids who think they’re not worth anything. So try to engage them back into something
Equity & fairness
If a student has done something wrong, I would try to keep the relationship the same with them as it has always been and let them know that I still like them, it’s just their behaviour that I’m not keen on
Change in looking out for friends
-15%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
Protect Fight Protect DrinkCycle
Protect DrinkDrive
ProtectUnderage
Driving
Protect AlcoholUse
Intervention schools Control schools
= significant change, baseline to follow up
Change in alcohol use
-15%
-5%
5%
15%
25%
Males Females
Ch
an
ge
in
alc
oh
ol
us
e s
co
re
SPIY
Control
Change in injuries
-15%
-10%
-5%
0%
5%
10%
Riding bike Ridingm'bike
Driving Passenger Physicalattack
Sport Fight
Intervention schools Control schools
Teachers comments:• “The workbook was an attractive thing for us”• “Kids like discussions, as I said, they like to bring their
own experiences in”• “They were quite happy to think oh yeah, probably not
the world’s best move, so that was good”
Student comments:• Importance of getting an adult’s help, “if I was the only
one there I would. But if there was someone older and more knowing about it, I'd leave it up to them and maybe go get help or something else”
• “To sacrifice 10 seconds of glory for, and like, say if you’ve broken your arm, you wouldn’t be able to do anything else that you wanted to do for a while.”
Key issues in intervention process design from the literature and focus groups with teachers...
• Interactive processes - needs to be engaging, interactive and non-traditional, employing a variety of stimulus
• Theory driven (e.g. cognitive-behavioural strategies)• Teachers are appropriate with training - a “Professional
Development” component is considered important including offering support
• ‘Dose’ – more than a single on-off lesson
• Must be integrated into the school curriculum. Some contents should be assessable. First aid may be appropriate.
• Socio-culturally and developmentally relevant
(e.g., Botvin et al. 2003; Cuijpers, 2002; Ellickson, 2000; McBride, 2003; Perry et al., 2003; Sheehan et al., 1996; Shope et al., 2000)
1.5 Methodology and practical strategies
Any questions?
Dr Lisa Buckley
Ph. 3138 4638
Mark your Diaries!
International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety Conference (T2013)
26-29 August 2013, Brisbane