Ethical and practical considerations of assessing risk and protective factors of high-risk youth and young adults

Seven communities throughout Minnesota worked with Wilder Research to assess risk and protective factors for alcohol prevention of youth and young adults at high-risk. First, each community used a data-driven process to identify a sub-population of youth and young adults in their community that is at high-risk of engaging in underage drinking or abusing alcohol. This included: children of alcoholics, second generation immigrants, students who are chronically truant or not engaged in activities, and youth and young adults with mental health concerns. Communities then worked with Wilder Research to conduct an assessment of the risk and protective factors and strategies for outreach in each sub-population. Wilder used various methods to collect data including key informant interviews, literature review, secondary data analysis, and direct data collection with youth via focus groups and surveys. Wilder will present the ethical and practical considerations of collecting data on high-risk youth and young adults that were used to determine data collection methods, as well as highlight lessons learned through the process. This assessment process was conducted as part of phase I of the federal SPF SIG initiative being implemented in Minnesota through the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Alcohol Drug Abuse Division.