title: Direct and Mediated Effects of a Social-Emotional and Character Development Program on Adolescent Substance Use.
abstract: Mitigating and preventing substance use among adolescents requires approaches that address the multitude of factors that influence this behavior. Such approaches must be tested, not only for evidence of empirical effectiveness, but also to determine the mechanisms by which they are successful. The aims of the present study were twofold: 1) To determine the effectiveness of a school-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) program,Positive Action(PA), in reducing substance use (SU) among a sample of U.S. youth living in a low-income, urban environment, and 2) to test one mechanism by which the program achieves its success. We used longitudinal mediation analysis to test the hypotheses that: 1) students attendingPAintervention schools engage in significantly less SU than students attending control schools, 2) students attendingPAintervention schools show significantly better change in SECD than students attending control schools, and 3) the effect of thePAintervention on SU is mediated by the change in SECD. Analyses revealed program effects on both SECD and SU, a relationship between SECD and SU, and the effects ofPAon SU were completely mediated by changes in SECD. Future research directions and implications for school-based social-emotional and character development efforts and substance use prevention are addressed.
authors.forename: Kendra M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bavarian
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acock
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Marc B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schure
authors.forename: Naida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Silverthorn
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vuchinich
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Flay
keywords: Adolescence; Longitudinal; Mediation; Social-emotional; Substance Use