Work

Developing a Web-Based Intervention to Prevent Drug Use Among Adolescent Girls

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Girls' rates of drug use have met up with, and in some instances, surpassed boys' use. Though girls and boys share risk and protective factors associated with drug use, girls also have gender-specific risks. Interventions to prevent girls' drug use must be tailored to address the dynamics of female adolescence. METHODS: One such intervention, called RealTeen, is a 9-session, web-based drug abuse prevention program designed to address such gender-specific risk factors associated with young girls' drug use as depressed mood, low self-esteem, and high levels of perceived stress as well as general drug use risk factors of peer and social influences. Web-based delivery enables girls to interact with the program at their own pace and in a location of their choosing. IMPLICATIONS: This paper describes the processes and challenges associated with developing and programming a gender-specific, web-based intervention to prevent drug use among adolescent girls.

Source: Research on Social Work Practice

DOI: 10.1177/1049731515579204

Authors: Traci Marie Schwinn, Jessica Elizabeth Hopkins, Steven Paul Schinke

Institution: Columbia University

Language: English

Topic: Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Subfield: Epidemiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Drug Abuse