@article{ref1,
title="Effects of the Communities That Care system on cross-sectional profiles of adolescent substance use and delinquency",
journal="American journal of preventive medicine",
year="2014",
author="Van Horn, M. Lee and Fagan, Abigail A. and Hawkins, J. David and Oesterle, Sabrina",
volume="47",
number="2",
pages="188-197",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: Adolescent substance use and delinquency are major public health problems. Although community-based prevention strategies have been recommended to produce population-level reductions in rates of substance use and delinquency, few models show evidence of effectiveness. <br><br>PURPOSE: To test the efficacy of a community-based prevention system, Communities That Care (CTC), in reducing community rates of problem behaviors, particularly effects on specific profiles of adolescent substance use and delinquency in eighth- and tenth-graders. <br><br>METHODS: Twenty-four communities were randomized to CTC intervention or control groups. Data were collected from 14,099 8th- and 10th-grade students in these communities using anonymous cross-sectional surveys in 2004 and 2010 and analyzed in 2012. Outcomes were four different profiles of self-reported substance use and delinquency in 8th grade and five profiles in 10th grade. <br><br>RESULTS: In the cross-sectional 2010 data, there was no intervention effect on the probability of experimenting with substances or of substance use coupled with delinquent activities for either grade. However, tenth-graders in intervention communities were significantly less likely to be alcohol users than those in control communities (OR=0.69, CI=0.48, 1.00). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Cross-sectional population surveys showed evidence of CTC effects in reducing tenth-grade alcohol users but not experimenters. A community-wide reduction in adolescent alcohol use is important because alcohol is the most commonly used illicit substance during adolescence, and early initiation of alcohol use has been associated with alcohol-related disorders in adulthood. Failure to find hypothesized effects on experimenters qualifies these results.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0749-3797",
doi="10.1016/j.amepre.2014.04.004",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.04.004"
}