Paper written pursuant to a contract with the U.S. Office of Education, under the provisions of the Cooperative Research Program.

Project conducted under a contract between the University of Kentucky Research Foundation and the Office of Economic Opportunity.

Charges that mass media campaigns have not been effective in dealing with such public health problems as drinking, smoking, and drugs. Reasons for this lack of effectiveness are discussed in terms of a hostile environment of antihealth advertising. Three conditions for success (monopolization, canalization, and supplementation) are discussed. (JAC)

Assessed the impact of assertion training on college students' (N=48) drug use. Results showed the assertion training group exhibited significantly less willingness to use drugs, less drug use, and more drug refusals than a placebo discussion group. Results support the effectiveness of assertion in reducing peer pressure. (JAC)

Describes a behavioral skills training model aimed at decreasing feelings of powerlessness often experienced by women. Feedback questionnaires suggest the training is effective in helping women attain their goals and use more direct forms of power. Cognitive change was a motivating factor. (JAC)

Examined the relationshp between the degree of support obtained from building principals (N=9) and the effectiveness of the counselor-consultant in facilitating a program to reduce vandalism. Results showed that schools with the highest principal support were most involved in the program and most successful in reducing vandalism. (JAC)

Illustrates the use of discriminant methodology for measuring therapeutic effectiveness in a study comparing personality traits of adolescent drug users and nonusers (N=80). Results indicated that discriminant techniques can establish a database against which to measure effectiveness when clear distinctions exist between acceptable and…

The mutually tactful exploration which led to both interviewee's and interviewer's self-disclosures is examined. Two instances--dealing with the theme of authority management and the concepts of race and color--are used to illustrate transformations of the culture-bound strategies of coping in the course of the migrants' life histories. (RM)

Sixth graders in primary prevention groups were taught various skills--interpersonal, decision making, problem solving and self-instructional--and facts about tobacco smoking to help them avoid cigarette smoking. Follow-up data showed that students trained this way smoked far less than those in a control group a year later. (Author/PP)

Presents an overview of behavior modification, and discusses ethical misgivings pertaining directly to the use of behavior modification in institutional drug treatment programs. Raises questions about the danger of social control,and informed consent. Concludes with a reexamination of aversive therapy and a plea for professionalism. (JAC)

The effects of a specific self-monitoring technique (charting) on promoting changes in the locus of control (LOC) orientation of educable mentally retarded children (n=91) were investigated. The relationship between LOC orientation and the children's chronological age was also investigated. (Author?PN)

A coronary heart disease risk factor self-change project for first-year medical students at Brown University is described. Students were exposed to behavioral principles and were able to observe firsthand the biological integration of behavior and physiology. (MLW)