Study
The evaluation by Caplan and colleagues (1992) used a quasi-experimental research design with comparison groups to evaluate the Positive Youth Development Program. Study participants were drawn from an inner-city middle school and suburban middle school in South Central Connecticut. The program was described to teachers at four middle schools. Teachers were then given the opportunity to voluntarily participate. Those who volunteered had their classrooms assigned to a control or treatment condition, based on scheduling and comparability of academic-ability grouping levels across conditions.
The sample consisted of 282 sixth and seventh grade students. The mean age of the sample was 12 years (ages 11 to 14). The inner-city sample consisted of 72 treatment students and 134 control students. The inner-city sample was 55 percent male and 90 percent Black, 8 percent Hispanic, and 2 percent of mixed ethnic origin. The suburban sample included 37 program students and 39 control students. The suburban sample was 54 percent male and 99 percent white and 1 percent Hispanic. There were no significant differences between the treatment and control groups in terms of gender and race.
Primary outcomes of interest included effectiveness and number of different coping strategies, peer conflict resolution, impulse control, assertiveness with adults, peer popularity, and substance and alcohol use. Two skill-assessment measures were administered to students to evaluate coping skills. The first measure was an alternative solutions test adapted from the Decision-Making Questionnaire that evaluated the quantity and effectiveness of solutions in a hypothetical vignette involving peer pressure to smoke. The second measure asked students to list the different things they do to calm themselves down when they feel anxious or stressed. To measure social and emotional adjustment such as peer-conflict resolution, impulse control, and peer popularity, a teacher rating scale was developed that provided an independent assessment of students’ school behavior. To measure intentions to use various substances, students were asked to indicate what they would say if a friend offered them cigarettes, beer, wine, hard liquor, marijuana, cocaine, crack, depressants, or stimulants. To measure substance use, students were asked to indicate how often they had used cigarettes, beer, wine, hard liquor, marijuana, cocaine, crack, depressants, or stimulants in the past 2 months. Students were also asked about experimental drinking and excessive use of alcohol.
Self-report surveys were administered to students during one class period at both pre- and postassessment (the length of the follow-up period was not provided in the study). Results were analyzed with multivariate analyses of variance. The study authors did not conduct subgroup analyses.
