DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY KIT FOR ALCOHOL PREVENTION

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): This project will develop health education materials for an Appalachian Community Kit for Alcohol Prevention. Materials will reflect the unique culture of Appalachia. The Kit will contain three components developmentally suited to the prevention needs of Appalachian youth aged 11 - 13, 14 - 16, and 17 - 18. Appalachia is important: With one in 12 Americans living there, the region has a population equal to that of all Latino Americans at the 1990 census. Though Appalachia has significant legal and social impediments to alcohol use, alcohol abuse there is common. Nevertheless, the region lacks culturally appropriate materials for alcohol prevention. Relying on sound prevention science, the firm seeks to develop materials that use the focal role of women in the Appalachian family as the access point. Staff demonstrated the feasibility of this approach in Phase I. Staff will conduct focus groups of members of the respective developmental ranges to understand how mothers and youth react to alcohol prevention. Based on findings, staff will develop materials for the components of the Kit. When all components are completed, staff will test the firm's hypothesis about the efficacy of the approach with a pre-test/post-test experiment. We then will finalize the kit by the grant's end.