Ways to say no: refusal skill strategies among urban adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To examine associations among adolescents' generated verbal strategies (ie, Simple No, Declarative Statements, Excuse, Alternatives) and underlying nonverbal assertiveness in 2 refusal situations: smoking and shoplifting.


METHODS
Sixth-grade urban minority students (N = 454) participated in videotaped role-play assessments of peer refusal skills.


RESULTS
Differences were found by situation with students demonstrating greater use of Simple No in the smoking refusal and Alternatives in the shoplifting refusal. Nonverbal assertiveness was similar across situations and was associated with Declarative Statements, but only in the smoking refusal.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevention programs should tailor refusal skills practice to cover multiple situations.
Nichols
Tracy R
TR
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 411 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021, USA. trdiaz@med.cornell.edu
Graber
Julia A
JA
Brooks-Gunn
Jeanne
J
Botvin
Gilbert J
GJ
D000293:Adolescent; D001242:Assertiveness; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012381:Role Playing; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D012925:Social Conformity; D013800:Theft / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D014505:Urban Population