Implementing family-centered interventions within the public middle school: linking service delivery to change in student problem behavior.
The Adolescent Transitions Program is a family-centered intervention strategy designed to reduce problem behavior and prevent drug use within a public school environment. A parent consultant within a Family Resource Center (FRC) provided universal, selected, and indicated interventions that enhanced and supported positive parenting practices known to serve as protective factors. Implementation of the 3-year FRC model involved 584 students and their families in 4 middle schools. Analyses focused on the dynamics and effects of parent consultant activities and services. Differences in school "adoption" of the FRC services were found to be a function of both passage of time and school environment. Despite significant variation in implementation across schools, FRC services significantly reduced the growth in problem behavior over the course of the middle-school years. The implications of these findings for dissemination of empirically supported, school-based, family-centered interventions are discussed.
Stormshak
Elizabeth A
EA
Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, 195 West 12th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401, USA. bstorm@uoregon.edu
Dishion
Thomas J
TJ
Light
John
J
Yasui
Miwa
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009922:Oregon; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology