This article describes a study aimed at solving the problem of school refusal by implementing a preventive program and raising the awareness of parents, social workers, and school personnel. The school children involved in this study were reported by their parents and school social workers to refuse to go to school, and according to the children's…

Text-based interventions are effective for smoking cessation, but have not been tested in rural older adults. The purpose of this study was to compare the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a text-based Scheduled Gradual Reduction (SGR) program to a non-SGR text messaging support condition among rural older adults. Adults over…

Objective: Age of initiation of drug use is closely associated with the risk of developing drug dependence or abuse. Effective programmes are needed to prevent adolescents from using drugs at an early age. The aim of this intervention programme was to prevent adolescents from using illegal drugs by using drama in education (DIE) to convey a…

Objective: Alcohol media literacy (AML) programs have achieved positive results for alcohol prevention; however, gender may moderate program effectiveness. This study investigated gender differences for an Australian AML intervention. Method: Fifth and sixth graders (N = 165), allocated to an intervention or wait-list control group, participated…

Upon assuming the presidency of the Republic of Korea in 2013, Park Geun-hye announced her administration's priority to address the country's "Four Social Evils"--sexual violence, domestic violence, school bullying, and unsafe food products. As part of this initiative, the ROK national government urged police officers to implement…

Preventing antisocial behaviors appearing at an early age--before they become chronic--through effective early intervention programs, has become an important issue in recent years. In Turkey, the increase in the number of children at risk of antisocial behavior makes it necessary to get these behaviors under control at an early age through some…

Home visitation has the potential to improve parent, child, and maternal outcomes and has become a widely implemented prevention program across the United States. The purpose of this research was to use a randomized controlled trial to assess the short-term effectiveness of the Arizona Healthy Families program across a range of outcomes. Two…

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of adolescents' use of smartphone applications and educational booklets in an educational programme about sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Design: Non-equivalent control-group time-series design. Setting: The study was conducted in two public high schools located in two urban areas of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the process evaluation of a pilot randomised control trial of an anti-smoking intervention for Malaysian 13-14-year olds, conducted in 2011/2012. It was hypothesised that trained peer supporters would promote non-smoking among classmates through informal conversations. Design/methodology/approach:…

The purpose of this study was to test the effects of healthy life practice (HLP) education on reported health behaviors, including health promotion, disease prevention, and safety among fourth-grade elementary school students. A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design was used. The 101 recruited participants from two schools were assigned to…

Child sexual abuse (CSA) threatens children's safety and even their lives. CSA is increasing steadily, despite the government's efforts to decrease and prevent its incidence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Education (C-SAPE) program on fifth-grade elementary school students' competence in…

Rural youth in poverty stricken Appalachian communities are the highest at-risk population for tractor rollover accidents (Cole, 2007). The Apprenticeship of Observation theory (Lortie, 1975) concludes that the "apprentice" learns from watching those perceived to be the teacher and their work and so mimic their actions. Thus, farm youth…

The ViSC program is the first evidence based anti-bullying program implemented in Turkey. A quasi-experimental longitudinal control group design comprising six schools and 26 classes was realized to examine the program effectiveness regarding different forms of perpetration and victimization. The effectiveness of two dosages of…

HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk-reduction interventions are needed to address the complex risk behaviors among African-American female adolescents in disadvantaged communities in North Carolina. In a two-group randomized trial, we reached 237 sexually active, substance-using African-American female adolescents, to test a…

In this study, the effectiveness of a life skills program to impede tobacco use in early adolescence was scrutinized. The focus was on the mediating role of yielding to peer pressure. The universal school-based life skills program IPSY (Information + Psychosocial Competence = Protection) against adolescent substance use was implemented over 3…