Session abstract - Breaking the borders of traditional alcohol prevention research and evaluation: Youth and adults partnering on research and evaluation to improve community impact

Young people have traditionally been excluded from or considered targets of alcohol research. Researchers and practitioners are increasingly partnering with young people as research indicates that engaging youth in alcohol prevention research has:

(1) Benefits for the field: Researchers note that youth evaluators are improving quality of research by producing knowledge through processes used by academic researchers and by developing their own methods to gather and disseminate information (James, 2003).

(2) Benefits for organizations and communities: When young people are involved in decision-making their participation changes and improves the quality and creativity of decisions (Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes & Calvert, 2000).

(3) Benefits for young people: Youth researchers build skills and other youth development outcomes (e.g., Checkoway & Richards-Schuster, 2003).

(4) Implications for social justice: Engagement in research provides opportunities for youth to contribute to the improvement of organizations, schools, and communities in which they participate (Checkoway, 2001).

This panel provides an overview of youth engagement in alcohol prevention research. The first presentation describes examples of youth-adult partnerships in community assessment research to drive alcohol prevention efforts. The second presentation details a peer-to-peer survey methodology. The third presentation discusses benefits and challenges of participation in alcohol prevention research from a youth perspective. The fourth presentation delineates resources, training, and organizational shifts needed to partner with young people and provides lessons learned from successful youth adult partnerships in alcohol prevention research.

A panel discussant will reflect on the presentations and on implications and next steps for the field.