Improving Prevention Curricula: Lessons Learned Through Formative Research on the Youth Message Development Curriculum

Abstract

This article describes formative research (a pilot study, interviews, and focus groups) conducted as part of a feasibility test of 2 versions (Analysis vs. Planning) of a brief media literacy intervention titled Youth Message Development (YMD). The intervention targets high school student alcohol use with activities to understand persuasion strategies, increase counter-arguing, and then apply these new skills to ad analysis or a more engaging ad poster planning activity. Based on the theory of active involvement (Greene, 2013), the Planning curriculum is proposed to be more effective than the Analysis curriculum. Overall, results of the formative research indicated that students (N = 182) and mentors/teachers (N = 53) perceived the YMD Planning curriculum as more interesting, involving, and novel, and these ratings were associated with increased critical thinking about the impact of advertising, lower alcohol use intentions, and fewer positive expectations about the effects of alcohol use. Qualitative feedback indicated a need to supplement alcohol-focused ad stimuli with ads targeting other advertising images, use incentives and competition-based activities to further enhance student motivation, and provide flexibility to enhance the appropriateness of the curriculum to various settings. These concerns led to the development of a revised curriculum and plans for further study.

Funding

This publication was supported by Grant No. R21 DA027146 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Rutgers University (grant recipient), Kathryn Greene (principal investigator). This work was funded in part through the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748 (PI: Craig B. Thompson, MD). Its content is solely our own responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Notes

¹ There was no sample overlap across the three phases of this reported formative research for either teachers or students. The interviews and focus groups contained students (and teachers) who were not part of the intervention study reported. In addition, interview participants did not participate in the focus groups, leading to the representation of 37 unique schools (32 across Pennsylvania, five across New Jersey, and no repeating students or teachers/mentors in this project).

² The specific program used for the pilot study requires recruitment and inclusion of social group clusters identified as more at risk and representative of schools widely.

³ The list of magazines generated by the students included Cosmopolitan, Game Informer, Ebony, ESPN Magazine, Jet King, Life & Style, OK, PC Gamer, People, Pop Vulture, Psychology Today, Seventeen, Sports Illustrated, Teen Vogue, Time, US Weekly, and Vibe.

Additional information

Funding

This publication was supported by Grant No. R21 DA027146 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Rutgers University (grant recipient), Kathryn Greene (principal investigator). This work was funded in part through the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748 (PI: Craig B. Thompson, MD). Its content is solely our own responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.