Schools are ideal locations for youth to receive mental health and social-emotional programming. Despite the well-established need for school-based mental health programs, many schools do not offer these programs, and those that do often face implementation challenges that hinder the effectiveness of the programs. Peer-led programs may be an…

The leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States is tobacco product use. The 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, which was completed in 2022, showed that the e-cigarette epidemic among youth continues to remain a public health threat. The survey revealed that over 2.5 million middle and high school students…

This study examined the impact of ITV intervention on reduction in the propensity to abuse substances and engage in drug trafficking. The researcher conducted this study using an experiment of 517 vulnerable adolescents aged 10-19 years. The participants were randomly assigned to control (n = 258) and treatment (n = 259) groups. The researchers…

In 2019, about 22% of U.S. students ages 12-18 reported being bullied, with a higher percentage of female students than male students reporting victimization. Recent empirical reports indicate that students with disabilities are more likely to experience bullying and be punished for bullying. Bullying has been linked to increased risk for…

In recent years, high schools have turned to PBIS to address issues related to dropout rates, school climate, and disciplinary practices. However, high schools pose unique implementation challenges when compared to elementary and middle schools, such as large school sizes, organization and culture focused on academics rather than behavior, and the…

Background: Adolescent suicide is a public health issue, and school is an ideal setting for prevention activities. LEARN is a peer-led gatekeeper training for high school personnel, parents, and students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of LEARN as a gatekeeper training. Methods: Paired t tests were used to compare pre-…

As the public health framework has been implemented in schools through multi-tiered systems of support, as in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), a prominent interpretation has been that 80% of students will benefit from universal or Tier 1 schoolwide behavior support, around 15% will require added selective or Tier 2 targeted…

Background: To contribute to a reduction in teenage pregnancy among in-school adolescents in Rwanda, a sexual and reproductive health peer education programme (SRHPEP) was developed and implemented. Reflecting on the unique characteristics of this newly implemented programme, and understanding peer educators' (PEs) and facilitators' perspectives,…

Sexual violence among adolescents is a major concern. This study examined the impact of the peer-led "Sources of Strength" program on gender-based violence and attitudes dismissive of sexual harassment. Twenty high schools in Colorado were randomized to intervention (n = 11) or waitlist control (n = 9); students (N = 6461; 9th-11th…

This study examined the impact of a classroom-level component of The Inclusive Skill-building Learning Approach (ISLA), an instructional and restorative alternative to exclusionary discipline, on student behaviors and school discipline practices in middle schools. Intervention implementation, classroom observations, and all other data collection…

Background: Effective implementation strategies are needed to enhance the success of evidence-based prevention programs. The current study evaluates the effects of two implementation strategies on teachers' implementation of an evidenced-based HIV intervention. Methods: Using our 7-item pre-implementation school screening tool, we identified…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a widely-used multi-tiered prevention framework that embeds a systems approach for establishing behavioral supports for all students, across all levels of need, to achieve social, behavioral, and academic success. A growing body of research has documented the effectiveness of PBIS in schools…

In Japan, many high school students have severe depression. Preventive interventions for school-based cognitive-behavioral depression are effective countermeasures against depressive problems among high school students. However, since high school curriculums are time-consuming, such interventions are less common among high school students.…

As evidence-based interventions are scaled, fidelity of implementation, and thus effectiveness, often wanes. Validated fidelity measures can improve researchers' ability to attribute outcomes to the intervention and help practitioners feel more confident in implementing the intervention as intended. We aim to provide a model for the validation of…

It should be noted that about a year after this researcher began work on this dissertation, he became seriously ill, greatly interfering with his ability to function. In 2019 he was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a terminal lung disease. As his physical condition continued to worsen, work on the dissertation came to practically a…