Abstract
Truant youths frequently experience family problems, emotional/psychological issues, substance misuse, and delinquency. They are likely engaging in alcohol use and sexual risk behavior at a higher rate than the general youth population. Early intervention services would benefit them, their families, and society. We present interim findings from an ongoing, National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded, experimental, brief intervention (BI) study involving truant youths and their parent/guardians. Baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up data were analyzed to determine whether alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors were longitudinally related, to examine the effects of the BI on alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, to identify subgroups of youths involved in alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors, and to assess the impact of the BI on these subgroups. Results indicated alcohol use and sexual risk were longitudinally related. Limited treatment effects were observed for alcohol use. Implications for future research and service delivery are considered.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 155-168 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The research reported in this article was funded by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) grant no. DA021561. We are grateful for NIDA’s support. We are also grateful for the collaboration and support of our work by the Tampa Police Department; the Hills-borough County Sheriff’s Office; the Hillsborough County Public Schools; the Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc.; and 13th Judicial Circuit, Juvenile Diversion Program.
Keywords
- alcohol use
- growth model
- latent class analysis
- sexual risk
- truancy
