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The Effects of the Going Places Program on Early Adolescent Substance Use and Antisocial Behavior

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Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of a school-based intervention on growth trajectories of smoking, drinking, and antisocial behavior among early adolescents. Seven middle schools were randomized to intervention or comparison conditions and students in two successive cohorts (n = 1484) provided five waves of data from sixth to ninth grade. The Going Places Program, included classroom curricula, parent education, and school environment components. Latent growth curve analyses demonstrated significant treatment group effects, including reducing increases in friends who smoke, outcome expectations for smoking, and smoking progression, but had non-significant effects on drinking or antisocial behavior. The Going Places Program was effective in preventing increases in smoking progression, but its efficacy as a more cross-cutting problem behavior preventive intervention was not confirmed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prevention Research Branch DESPR, NICHD, NIH, Rockville, Maryland, United States

    Bruce Simons-Morton EdD, MPH & Denise Haynie

  2. NeuroScience, Inc, Bethesda, Maryland, United States

    Keith Saylor

  3. Prevention Research Branch National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIH, Rockville, Maryland, United States

    Aria Davis Crump

  4. Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States

    Rusan Chen

  5. Prevention Research Branch DESPR, NICHD, NIH, 6100 Executive Blvd 7B13M, Rockville, Maryland, 20852-7510, United States

    Bruce Simons-Morton EdD, MPH

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  1. Bruce Simons-Morton EdD, MPH
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Simons-Morton, B., Haynie, D., Saylor, K. et al. The Effects of the Going Places Program on Early Adolescent Substance Use and Antisocial Behavior. Prev Sci 6, 187–197 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-005-0005-2

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