CHOICES: Examining Impact of Brief Interventions to Reduce Delinquency

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

While a variety of early intervention programs have been lauded for their impact in reducing delinquency and drug use in school settings, very little research exists on the impacts of brief intervention programs in similar circumstances. Due to the increasing resource limitations faced by schools, brief interventions have the potential to create a large impact with limited costs, similar to findings in the public health and medical spheres. This panel discusses the findings from an initial evaluation of one such brief intervention, CHOICES, a decision-making curriculum aimed at improving skills for sixth graders in an urban location. Of special interest in the fact that this program targeted low-income, urban, minority areas in an effort to bolster existing programming while taking cost-effectiveness into consideration. Long-term implications of the project for future research will be discussed, as will the potential for brief interventions to be effective in delinquency prevention.

Sub Unit

• Area VII. Methodology / 56. Advances in Evaluation Research

Individual Presentations

• Fidelity Assessment and Curriculum Adherence for CHOICES - Jennifer M. Reingle, UT Health Sciences Center; Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas at Dallas

• How Meaningful are Brief Interventions? Testing academic outcomes of the CHOICES curriculum - Justine Medrano, University of Texas at Dallas; Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas at Dallas

• Behavioral Choices in Adolescent Youth - Richard Riner, University of Texas at Dallas; Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas at Dallas

• Lost in the shuffle: an examination of Latino youth supervision within extended families - Courtney Wayne, University of Texas at Dallas; Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas at Dallas

Chair

• Nadine M. Connell, University of Texas at Dallas