Publications

Research Briefs

In 2007, KDHRC launched its Informing Public Health research brief series to disseminate innovative, objective, and timely information to solve public health and other social issues.

Resonant prescription drug abuse prevention messages for teens

Christine B. Agnew, Eric C.Twombly, and Kristen D. Holtz
August 2009: Number 6
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Prescription drug abuse, particularly among teens, has become a major public health problem in the United States. In 2003, roughly 2.3 million teens in the U.S. reported lifetime nonmedical use of a prescription drug (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2004). By 2008, the number of teens who reported lifetime nonmedical use of a prescription drug rose to 4.7 million, or one in every five teens in the U.S. (Partnership Attitude Tracking Study [PATS], 2009).

Recommendations to prevent teen misuse of prescription drugs

Kristen D. Holtz, KDHRC and Eric C. Twombly, Georgia State University
July 2008: Number 5
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Prescription drug misuse by teens is a growing public health problem. Although there is basic information on patterns of misuse among teens, there are few systematic analyses of what influences teens’ knowledge about and attitudes towards prescription drugs — key factors for the creation of effective prevention programs — and even less research on methods to curb these increases. To address this information gap, this brief combines multiple bodies of research to construct recommendations to stem the growing problem of prescription drug misuse by teens.

Using science-based education to prevent drug and alcohol abuse by elementary school students

Eric C. Twombly, Georgia State University and Kristen D. Holtz, KDHRC
June 2008: Number 4
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The substantial public health problem of illicit drug use among elementary school children requires innovative thinking on methods to combat it. This brief analyzes the development and preliminary evaluation of a school-based science education intervention to reduce illicit drug use among children and youth. Exposure to the curriculum relates to a change in knowledge about alcohol and drugs, but other factors also play a role in knowledge change. Indeed, greater pre-existing positive attitudes toward science predicted greater knowledge change, and students who knew less at the start of the intervention showed a greater change in knowledge.

How attitudes affect student learning about drugs of abuse

Kristen D. Holtz, KDHRC and Eric C. Twombly, Georgia State University
May 2008: Number 3
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This study, which examines the effectiveness of a middle school science education curriculum on drugs of abuse, suggests that pre-existing student attitudes toward science and drugs play an important role in student performance. The implications of the study are significant in two ways. First, the science-based education curriculum analyzed in this brief — or ones similar in nature — may have value as a drug-prevention tool for students. Second, the study suggests specific methods that may be used to potentiate student outcomes on such curricula. For example, the development of new pedagogical methods to improve science achievement by identifying and intervening with students who report more negative attitudes toward science, prior to the implementation of core content, may have value and should be explored further.

A science education curriculum to curb youth drug use: Implications for practice and public policy

Eric C. Twombly, Georgia State University & Kristen D. Holtz, KDHRC
November 2007: Number 2
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Science education offers a unique opportunity to infuse persuasive health information into core curricula in a crowded school environment. This brief presents the results of an evaluation of a multimedia science education curriculum on drugs of abuse developed with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Students exposed to the curriculum showed increases in knowledge, providing tentative support for the effectiveness of this approach.

Mandates and recommendations for public health materials to improve health literacy

Kristen D. Holtz, KDHRC & Eric C. Twombly, Georgia State University
September 2007:Number 1
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This research provides a systematic examination of the linkage between two bodies of theory – behavior change theories and cognitive development theories from the fields of psychology and education – to inform the creation of public health materials for low literacy populations.