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Describes Minnesota DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) PLUS, a randomized trial of 24 schools and communities. During 1999-2001, students in eight schools will receive the DARE curriculum in 7th grade. Eight other schools will receive the curriculum plus additional parent involvement, peer leadership, and community components in 7th and 8th grades. Eight other schools will be controls. (SM)

Objectives. This study tested the hypothesis that adaptation and implementation of local policies regarding youth access to tobacco can affect adolescent smoking. Methods. A randomized community trial was conducted in 14 Minnesota communities. Seven intervention communities participated in a 32-month community-organizing effort to mobilize citizens and activate the community. The goal was to change ordinances, merchant policies and practices, and enforcement practices to reduce youth access to tobacco. Outcome measures were derived from surveys of students before and after the intervention and from tobacco purchase attempts in all retail outlets in the communities. Data analyses used mixed-model regression to account for the clustering within communities and to adjust for covariates. Results. Each intervention community passed a comprehensive youth access ordinance. Intervention communities showed less pronounced increases in adolescent daily smoking relative to control communities. Tobacco purchase success declined somewhat more in intervention that control communities during the study period, but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions. This study provides compelling evidence that policies designed to reduce youth access to tobacco can have a significant effect on adolescent smoking rates. (Am J Public Health. 1998;88:1193-1198)

Objectives. A randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a work-site health promotion program in reducing obesity and the prevalence of cigarette smoking. Methods. Thirty-two work sites were randomized to treatment or no treatment for 2 years. Treatment consisted of health education classes combined with a payroll-based incentive system. Evaluation was based on cohort and cross-sectional surveys. Results. Of 10 000 total employees in treatment work sites, 2041 and 270 participated in weight control and smoking cessation programs, respectively. Weight losses averaged 4.8 lbs, and 43% of smoking participants quit. Net 2-year reductions in smoking prevalence in treatment vs control work sites were 4.0% and 2.1% in cross-sectional and cohort surveys, respectively. No treatment effect was found for weight. Treatment effects for smoking prevalence and weight were both positively correlated with participation rates in the intervention programs (r = .45 for smoking and r = .55 for weight). Conclusions. This work-site health promotion program was effective in reducing smoking prevalence at a cost that is believed to make the investment worthwhile. (Am J Public Health. 1993;83:395-401), Work-site health promotion programs may increase the number of employees who quit smoking at a reasonable cost. Among 10,000 employees who worked at an organization with a work-site health promotion program, 2,041 participated in a weight control program and 270 participated in a smoking cessation program over a two-year period. Participants in the weight loss program lost an average of five pounds, and 43% of the participants in the smoking cessation program quit smoking. Four percent of the employees who worked at a job with a work-site health program program quit smoking over a two-year period, compared with 2% of employees who worked at a job where there was no health promotion program. No significant difference in weight loss was found between individuals who worked where an on-site health promotion program existed and those who worked where there was no such program.

Abstract Background Despite declines over recent years, youth tobacco and other substance use rates remain high. Latino youth are at equal or increased risk for lifetime tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use compared with their white peers. Family plays an important and influential role in the lives of youth, and longitudinal research suggests that improving parenting skills may reduce youth substance use. However, few interventions are oriented towards immigrant Latino families, and none have been developed and evaluated using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) process that may increase the effectiveness and sustainability of such projects. Therefore, using CBPR principles, we developed a randomized clinical trial to assess the efficacy of a family-skills training intervention to prevent tobacco and other substance use intentions in Latino youth. Methods/Design In collaboration with seven Latino community-serving agencies, we will recruit and randomize 336 immigrant families, into intervention or delayed treatment conditions. The primary outcome is youth intention to smoke 6 months post intervention. The intervention consists of eight parent and four youth sessions targeting parenting skills and parent–youth relational factors associated with lower smoking and other substance use in youth. Discussion We present the study protocol for a family intervention using a CBPR randomized clinical trial to prevent smoking among Latino youth. The results of this trial will contribute to the limited information on effective and sustainable primary prevention programs for tobacco and other substance use directed at the growing US Latino communities. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01442753

In 1991, 1008 suburban St. Paul, Minn, high school students were surveyed via self-administered questionnaire regarding use of commercial tanning facilities, injuries experienced from tanning, use of protective measures while tanning indoors, and knowledge of the risks of tanning. Overall, 34% of the respondents had used commercial tanning facilities. Fifty percent said they had not been warned by tanning facility operators about the risks of tanning indoors, 28% reported not being told to wear goggles, and 17% reported never wearing goggles. The results indicate that these adolescents use commercial tanning services at high rates, and often in ways that increase their risk for a variety of health problems. (Am J Public Health. 1994;84:47-478), Adolescents in suburban Minnesota often use indoor tanning facilities but have little awareness of the dangers involved. Artificial tanning produces no health benefits and actually increases a person's chances of getting cancer from natural sunlight. Fewer than half the states regulate indoor tanning facilities. FDA regulations require warning labels on machines and protective eye-ware for users. High school students from St. Paul, Minnesota completed a survey on indoor tanning in class. Of the 1008 students surveyed, 34% had used a tanning facility. Over one quarter of this group tanned at least once per month. Over 40% of the tanners said that they did not always wear goggles, and 16% reported eye problems, including burns. Half of the students said that they had received no warning about the risks of indoor tanning.

Objectives. Policymakers, researchers, and citizens are beginning to recognize the need to limit minors' access to tobacco by restricting the sale of cigarettes through vending machines. One policy alternative that has been proposed by the tobacco industry is a requirement that vending machines be fitted with electronic locking devices. This study evaluates such a policy as enacted in St. Paul, Minn. Methods. A random sample of vending machine locations was selected for cigarette purchase attempts conducted before implementation and at 3 and 12 months postimplementation. Results. The rate of noncompliance by merchants was 34% after 3 months and 30% after 1 year. The effect of the law was to reduce the ability of a minor to purchase cigarettes from locations originally selling cigarettes through vending machines from 86% at baseline to 36% at 3 months. The purchase rate at these locations rose to 48% at 1 year. Conclusions. Our results suggest that cigarette vending machine locking devices may not be as effective as vending machine bans and require additional enforcement to ensure compliance with the law. (Am J Public Health. 1992;82:1217-1219)

The research community has criticized Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) because the extant literature indicates a lack of evidence that the elementary school program prevents drug use. Yet D.A.R.E. continues to be the most widely implemented drug use prevention program in the United States and has considerable community support. To date, the junior high D.A.R.E. program has not been evaluated. The Minnesota DARE PLUS Project is a randomized trial of 24 schools and communities. During 1999-2001, students in eight schools will receive the junior high D.A.R.E. curriculum in 7th grade; eight schools also will receive the curriculum as well as additional parent involvement, peer leadership, and community components in the 7th and 8th grades; and eight schools will serve as controls. This article describes the background and conceptualization, the curriculum and additional intervention components, and the evaluation methods of the DARE PLUS Project. (J Sch Health. 2000;70(3):84-88), Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) is a controversial topic in the prevention literature. The D.A.R.E. elementary curriculum has been criticized by researchers for its short-term and modest effects on adolescent [...]

Project Northland was a randomized trial to reduce alcohol use among adolescents in 24 school districts in northeastern Minnesota. Phase 1 (1991-1994), when the targeted cohort was in grades 6-8, included school curricula, parent involvement, peer leadership and community task forces. The Interim Phase (1994-1996) involved minimal intervention. Phase 2 (1996-1998), when the cohort was in grades 11 and 12, included a classroom curriculum, parent education, print media, youth development and community organizing. Outcomes of these interventions were assessed by annual student surveys from 1991 to 1998, alcohol purchase attempts by young-looking buyers in 1991, 1994 and 1998, and parent telephone surveys in 1996 and 1998. Growth curve analysis was used to examine the student survey data over time. Project Northland was most successful when the students were young adolescents. The lack of intervention in the Interim Phase when the students were in grades 9 and 10 had a significant and negative impact on alcohol use. The intervention used with the high school students as those in grades 11 and 12 made a positive impact on their tendency to use alcohol use, binge drinking and ability to obtain alcohol. There was no impact in Phase 2 on other student-level behavioral and psychosocial factors. Developmentally appropriate, multi-component, community-wide programs throughout adolescence appear to be needed to reduce alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]