Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108220

Janie Canty-Mitchell, PhD RN, College of Nursing, Health Sciences Center, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd, MDC 22, Tampa, FL 33612, 813-974-1169, jcantymi@hsc.usf.edu, Deborah L. Johnson, MSN, RN, Department of Environments for Health, Indiana University School of Nursing, 1111 Middle Dr, NU 459, Indianapolis, IN 46202, Susan K. Riesch, DNSc, Nursing and Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Ave. Room 569, Madison, WI 53705-2280, and Nicole Angresano, MPH, School of Nursing, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, K6 214 CSC, Madison, WI 53705.

Preventing youth from engaging in health risk behavior accounts for 10 of 12 goals in Healthy People 2010. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define health-risk behavior as: (a) activities that contribute to unintentional and intentional injuries, (b) tobacco use, (c) alcohol and other drug use, (d) sexual behavior, (e) dietary practices, and (f) physical inactivity. The purpose of this paper is to describe the outcomes of an intervention to improve family functioning and thereby reduce or delay the onset of youth health risk behavior intention and practice. The hypothesis is: Youth who participate in SFP (10-14) will report fewer intentions and health-risk behaviors when compared immediately and 6 months following the SFP, Strengthening Families Program (10-14) with youth who did not participate. Participants included youth-adult dyads who were recruited from public elementary schools and community centers that were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison conditions in two Midwest cities. An intervention group of 50 adults and their 5th grade youth attended the 7-week SFP (10-14) and were compared with 50 adult-youth dyads who did not attend. Family strengthening strategies include improving family communication, functioning, climate, and identity. All data were collected via in-home interview using personal data assistants and laptop computers. Variables measured were school connectedness and perception of school climate; educational aspirations; social skills, family cohesion, communication, involvement, supervision, and parenting practices of rewards, discipline, monitoring, and structure; health risk behavior participation, attitudes and beliefs about harm perception; and community support. All data have been collected and currently are being analyzed using multi-level fixed occasion longitudinal modeling. Family strengthening techniques may mediate risk factors to reduce youth health risk behavior and intention. Public health practitioners can implement these techniques as a ‘rite-of-passage' for families transitioning to middle school.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate how strengthening family strategies may contribute to the prevention or delay in onset of health risk behaviors,
• Analyze the extent to which SFP 10-14 program reduced intentions and behaviors to practice health risk behaviors among 5th grade children.

Keywords: Children and Adolescents, Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation