Evaluating the Effectiveness of the YASP Intervention: Adolescent Substance Use Outcomes

Issues of alcohol and drug use are more pronounced during adolescence than at any other period of the life span. There is currently a need for research focusing on evaluating developmentally appropriate interventions for adolescents at risk for substance use issues. The present study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of YASP (Youth Alternative Solutions Program), a hospital-based intervention program at Loma Linda University Medical Center. It is hypothesized that participation in YASP will decrease levels of substance use, change substance use outcome expectancies, decrease negative consequences resulting from substance use and increase participants sense of self-efficacy. A sample 27 adolescents was recruited from several YASP cohorts from August 2010 until October 2011 for this study. Twenty-seven total participants completed both time 1 (pre-test) and time 2 (post-test) questionnaires and only 14 of these participants completed all 3 waves of data collection (pre-test, post-test, and follow-up). Participants were administered pre-test, post-test, and 3 month follow-up questionnaires. Results indicated that a significant increase in negative alcohol outcome expectancies occurred between the three study time points. Given the high predictive value of alcohol expectancies in determining drinking behaviors this was an important finding in determining the effectiveness of this intervention. More comprehensive studies of the YASP program should be conducted in the future to determine the utility of hospital-based, educational substance use interventions and to provide evidence of the long-term effects of this program.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Brown, Whitney Nicole

Contributors dc:contributor

• Owen, Jason
• Betancourt, Hector
• D'Errico, Ellen

• Psychology
• Youth- Alcohol Use; Youth-Drug Use; Adolescent Health Services;
• Alcohol Use
• Drug Use
• Adolescence
• At Risk Adolescents
• Hospital-based Intervention Programs
• Youth Alternative Solutions Program

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/74

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1073