Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), proposes a study of long-term impact of the Reach for Health (RFH) program of community-based interventions designed to reduce multiple-risk behaviors related to sex, violence, and substance abuse among economically disadvantaged minority youth. The study extends established and theoretically grounded research funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and conducted in collaboration with the New York City Public Schools, the New York City Department of Public Health, Columbia University School of Public Health, Medgar Evers College (City University of New York), and the New York Academy of Medicine. Through this research, a large sample of African American and Hispanic 7th and 8th graders(n=3000) already have participated in a multi-wave evaluation of RFH intervention implemented in Brooklyn middle schools. In the proposed study, the investigators will follow this sample through their transition to high school and into 10th grade.
They aim to: 1. Assess the longitudinal impact of RFH interventions for young adolescents on the multiple-risk behaviors of cigarette, alcohol, and
