Research has indicated that Native Hawaiian youth have significantly higher rates of drug use than their non-Hawaiian counterparts (e.g., Wong, Klingle, &Price, 2004;Mayeda, Hishinuma, Nishimura, Garcia- Santiago, &Mark, 2006), and that these differences are particularly pronounced in rural settings (Lai &Saka, 2005). Despite these findings, there have been very few drug prevention programs developed and evaluated specifically for these youth (Edwards, Giroux, &Okamoto, in press;Rehuher, Hiramatsu, &Helm, 2008). Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory research proposal is to develop and pilot test curricular components of a video-based, culturally-grounded drug prevention program for rural Native Hawaiian youth. This will be accomplished through three specific aims.
AIM 1 is to create 3-5 video vignettes focused on relevant drug related problem situations of rural Hawaiian youth. The vignettes will focus on common and difficult drug offer situations for these youth, as well as the range of responses to each situation, established from prior NIDA- funded research (5 K01 DA019884).
AIM 2 is to develop the accompanying drug prevention curricular components to compliment the video vignettes developed in Aim 1.
AIM 3 is to pilot test the resulting curricular components for program feasibility and measurement, using a combination of focus group interviews with stakeholders (e.g., Hawaiian youth, youth-serving practitioners) and selected classroom implementation within four middle schools. Comparison of the intervention components against four attentional-control schools will be conducted, in order to estimate effect sizes for a future large-scale, randomized controlled trial (to be implemented as part of a future R01 grant).
Because Hawaiians or part-Hawaiians represent the largest Pacific Islander population in the U.S. (Harris &Jones, 2005) and have been shown to have higher rates of alcohol consumption and smoking compared with other ethnic groups (Office of Minority Health, 2009), research focused on drug prevention of these individuals is important to improve public health both in Hawai'i and on the Mainland U.S. This study actively engages rural communities in the development of the curricular components of a drug prevention intervention for Hawaiian youth, promoting the overall utility and effectiveness of those components. Further, the findings from this study will point to the core content of prevention interventions for Hawaiian youth in rural communities, which may be applicable to other ethnic youth populations in Hawai'i and the Pacific Rim, as well as Native youth populations on the Mainland U.S.
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