scholarly journals Evaluation of a School-Based Gambling Prevention Program for Adolescents: Efficacy of Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Author(s):  
Renée A. St-Pierre ◽  
Jeffrey L. Derevensky ◽  
Caroline E. Temcheff ◽  
Rina Gupta ◽  
Alexa Martin-Story

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the concept of negative anticipated emotions (NAEs) have attracted research attention in the formulation of effective preventive interventions. This approach has identified several key constructs of the TPB (i.e., intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioural control) and NAEs as valid predictors of gambling behaviours and problems. However, no empirical investigation has used these constructs in the design or evaluation of a preventive intervention for adolescent problem gambling. The current research aimed to assess the efficacy of targeting NAEs and key TPB constructs in a prevention video for modifying gambling beliefs, intentions, and behaviours. A sample of 280 high school students were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control condition. Participants were assessed at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Results reveal that the video was not effective in producing desired changes in NAEs, the key constructs of the TPB, or the frequency of gambling behaviour. The findings suggest that the video, delivered as a universal preventive intervention, may be insufficient for modifying NAEs and other TPB key constructs, or for changing gambling behaviours.Pour la formulation d’interventions préventives efficaces, l’attention de chercheurs s’est portée sur la théorie du comportement planifié et le concept d’émotions négatives anticipées. Cette approche a permis de relever plusieurs constructions clés de la théorie du comportement planifié (soit, les intentions, attitudes, normes subjectives, perceptions du contrôle comportemental) et des émotions négatives anticipées comme indicateurs valides de comportements et de problèmes liés au jeu. Cependant, aucune étude empirique n’a utilisé ces constructions dans la conception ou l’évaluation d’une intervention préventive pour le jeu des adolescents. La recherche actuelle visait donc à évaluer dans quelle mesure il était efficace de cibler les émotions négatives anticipées et les constructions clés du comportement planifié dans une vidéo de prévention afin de modifier les croyances, les intentions et les comportements du jeu. Un échantillon de 280 élèves du secondaire a été affecté au hasard à une condition d’intervention ou de contrôle. Les participants ont été évalués avant et après l’intervention et au suivi, trois mois plus tard. Les résultats révèlent que la vidéo n’a pas été efficace pour produire les changements souhaités dans le cas des émotions négatives anticipées, les constructions clés du comportement planifié ou la fréquence du comportement du jeu. Les résultats permettent de conclure que la vidéo présentée comme intervention préventive universelle ne suffit pas à modifier les émotions négatives anticipées ni d’autres constructions clés du comportement planifié ou des comportements de jeu.

Author(s):  
Renée A. St-Pierre ◽  
Jeffrey L. Derevensky ◽  
Caroline E. Temcheff ◽  
Rina Gupta ◽  
Alexa Martin-Story

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the concept of negative anticipated emotions (NAEs) have attracted research attention in the formulation of effective preventive interventions. This approach has identified several key constructs of the TPB (i.e., intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceptions of behavioural control) and NAEs as valid predictors of gambling behaviours and problems. However, no empirical investigation has used these constructs in the design or evaluation of a preventive intervention for adolescent problem gambling. The current research aimed to assess the efficacy of targeting NAEs and key TPB constructs in a prevention video for modifying gambling beliefs, intentions, and behaviours. A sample of 280 high school students were randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control condition. Participants were assessed at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Results reveal that the video was not effective in producing desired changes in NAEs, the key constructs of the TPB, or the frequency of gambling behaviour. The findings suggest that the video, delivered as a universal preventive intervention, may be insufficient for modifying NAEs and other TPB key constructs, or for changing gambling behaviours.Pour la formulation d’interventions préventives efficaces, l’attention de chercheurs s’est portée sur la théorie du comportement planifié et le concept d’émotions négatives anticipées. Cette approche a permis de relever plusieurs constructions clés de la théorie du comportement planifié (soit, les intentions, attitudes, normes subjectives, perceptions du contrôle comportemental) et des émotions négatives anticipées comme indicateurs valides de comportements et de problèmes liés au jeu. Cependant, aucune étude empirique n’a utilisé ces constructions dans la conception ou l’évaluation d’une intervention préventive pour le jeu des adolescents. La recherche actuelle visait donc à évaluer dans quelle mesure il était efficace de cibler les émotions négatives anticipées et les constructions clés du comportement planifié dans une vidéo de prévention afin de modifier les croyances, les intentions et les comportements du jeu. Un échantillon de 280 élèves du secondaire a été affecté au hasard à une condition d’intervention ou de contrôle. Les participants ont été évalués avant et après l’intervention et au suivi, trois mois plus tard. Les résultats révèlent que la vidéo n’a pas été efficace pour produire les changements souhaités dans le cas des émotions négatives anticipées, les constructions clés du comportement planifié ou la fréquence du comportement du jeu. Les résultats permettent de conclure que la vidéo présentée comme intervention préventive universelle ne suffit pas à modifier les émotions négatives anticipées ni d’autres constructions clés du comportement planifié ou des comportements de jeu.


1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Baer ◽  
Robert J. McLaughlin ◽  
Mary A. Burnside ◽  
Alex D. Pokorny

Two preventive intervention programs on alcohol and other substance use were devised for classrooms of junior and senior high school students. One program focused on resistance to social influence, and the other on attitude change and decision making. Youngsters undergoing these interventions were compared with controls who had no intervention on both alcohol usage measures and nonusage psychosocial indices at a pre-intervention baseline, at one-year post-intervention for tenth graders, and at two-year post-intervention for seventh graders. No difference in outcome between the two interventions was found for tenth graders, but one-year post-intervention tenth graders who had either of the interventions used less alcohol than controls. Nonusage measures were not affected. Seventh graders showed no usage effects of interventions two years post-intervention, but the nonusage measures suggested more prosocial behavior. Also among seventh graders, those with a high score on peer or parent alcohol use modeling responded better to the social resistance intervention, while those with a low score responded better to the attitudinal intervention.


Author(s):  
Yunting Zhang ◽  
Xiaochen Ma ◽  
Jin Zhao ◽  
Hong Shen ◽  
Fan Jiang

Objectives: Evidence of school-based physical activity (PA) on academic performance in children and adolescents was inconsistent, especially in high school students who face a high academic burden. In this study, we tested the efficacy of a strengthened physical education (PE) program on academic outcomes in Shanghai. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was conducted to investigate the effect of strengthened PE on academic scores by calculating the grade-cohort difference before and after the intervention. PE curriculum switched from traditional short duration (40 minutes) general fitness training to long duration (90 minutes) specialized sports (e.g., football, aerobics). A total of 460 high school students (236 pre-intervention and 224 post-intervention) were enrolled in grade 10 and followed for two and three semesters. The academic outcome was assessed by district-standardized test scores. A difference-in-difference approach was employed. Results: After two semesters, the standardized Chinese language scores and English language scores for the post intervention group were increased by 0.61 SD (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44, 0.78, p < 0.001) and 0.28 SD (95% CI: 0.09, 0.47, p = 0.01). However, the standardized math scores for the post intervention group were decreased in girls. After three semesters, standardized Chinese language scores for the post intervention group were increased by 0.27 SD (95% CI: 0.06, 0.48, p = 0.01). Math scores and English language scores decreased by 0.18 SD (95% CI: −0.36, −0.01, p = 0.04) and 0.23 SD (95% CI: −0.38, −0.09, p = 0.00), respectively. Conclusion: A school-based physical education program had mixed effects on academic scores in high school students.


Author(s):  
Leila Ghahremani ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Kaveh ◽  
Hadi Tehrani ◽  
Arezoo Orooji ◽  
Alireza Jafari

Abstract This study aimed to determine the predictive power of the theory of planned behaviour in predicting the intention and behaviour of positive thinking in school students. A cross-sectional study was performed on 367 high school male students in Iran. Data were gathered using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been confirmed before. Descriptive and inferential analysis (univariate and multiple logistic regression models, Pearson correlation) was performed using SPSS software V.20. AMOS version 22 was used to perform the path analysis. According to the results, the construct of attitude was the most important construct in predicting positive thinking intention. Finally, the theory of planned behaviour constructs could predict 36% of intention variance and 20% of behaviour variance of positive thinking. Since the construct of attitude is one of the most powerful constructs in predicting student positive thinking intention in male teens, it is recommended that more attention be paid to this construct in educational programs to improve the mental health of male high school students. The results of this study can help psychologists and counsellors, families, and teachers improve students’ mental health.


1979 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-144
Author(s):  
Cheri L. Florance ◽  
Judith O’Keefe

A modification of the Paired-Stimuli Parent Program (Florance, 1977) was adapted for the treatment of articulatory errors of visually handicapped children. Blind high school students served as clinical aides. A discussion of treatment methodology, and the results of administrating the program to 32 children, including a two-year follow-up evaluation to measure permanence of behavior change, is presented.


2021 ◽  
pp. 140349482110076
Author(s):  
Lotus S. Bast ◽  
Lisbeth Lund ◽  
Stine G. LauemØller ◽  
Simone G. Kjeld ◽  
Pernille Due ◽  
...  

Aims: Socio-economic inequalities in health behaviour may be influenced by health interventions. We examined whether the X:IT II intervention, aiming at preventing smoking in adolescence, was equally effective among students from different occupational social classes (OSC). Methods: We used data from the multi-component school-based smoking preventive intervention X:IT II, targeting 13- to 15-year-olds in Denmark. The intervention was tested in 46 schools with 2307 eligible students at baseline (response rate=86.6%) and had three main intervention components: smoke-free school time, smoke-free curriculum and parental involvement. We used a difference-in-difference design and estimated the change in current smoking after the first year of implementation in high versus low OSC. Analyses were based on available cases ( N=1190) and imputation of missing data at follow-up ( N=1967). Results: We found that 1% of the students from high OSC and 4.9% from low OSC were smokers at baseline (imputed data), and 8.2% of the students from high OSC and 12.2% from low OSC were smokers at follow-up. Difference-in-difference estimates were close to zero, indicating no differential trajectory. Conclusions: As intended, the X:IT II intervention, designed to apply equally to students from all socio-economic groups, did not seem to create different trajectories in current smoking among adolescents in high and low socio-economic groups. To diminish social inequality in health, future studies should carefully consider the ability to affect all socio-economic groups equally, or even to appeal mainly to participants from lower socio-economic groups, as they are often the ones most in need of intervention.


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