Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Youth in rural areas participate in considerable risk behaviors, calling for effective prevention and intervention efforts. Factors that may contribute to heightened risk behaviors among rural youth include poverty, social isolation, lack of access to mental health treatment or providers, and childhood trauma.Notonlydoruralyouthreceivelesspreventionprogramming,butbothfront-line youth service professionals and parents also receive limited training in addressing substance use and other risk behaviors among youth. When training is provided, rural professionals and parents lack time and financial resources to participate in traditional forms of professional development such as day-long, on-site training sessions. To address substance use and risk behavior prevention programmingneeds,a virtualtrainingforyouthserviceprofessionalsandcommunitymemberswill be developed.Programming will be targeted toward professionals and parents in rural communities within four states: Georgia, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia. In each state, the majority of countiesare HealthProfessionalShortageareas,andalsoclassifiedasnon-metro.Extensionagents, school counselors, social workers, and teachers, as well as community members including parents, fosterparents,andExtensionvolunteerswillparticipateintrainingstargetingsubstanceuse/misuse, sexting, non-suicidal self-injury, and disordered eating among others. Training will be supplemented with podcasts providing practical tips for discussing risk behaviors with youth. Participantsareexpectedtoincreaseknowledgeofriskbehaviorandself-efficacyinrespondingto youth needs. Program outcomes will be evaluated through pre- and post-tests immediately before and after the training, and at 3 months post-training.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
The two objectives of the project involve expanding upon current prescription opioid misuse prevention programming for youth and developing accessible educational resources for rural farming/ranching communities. The first objective involves the development of a new virtual training series consisting of 8, 1-2 hour, modules aimed at educating youth development professionals and parents about trends in youth risk behavior, and how to appropriately address the behavior. Based on best practices for prevention programming and pedagogy, including consideration of diverse learning styles, the proposed project will expand the current programming to includemore intensive training on topics ofrelevanceto the audience.Each training module will be offered multiple times allowing the target audience options for attendance at their convenience.The events will befacilitatedbya member ofthe project team.In the second objective, a practical guide to talking with youth about risk behavior will be developed in a podcast format. Episodes will consist of a 30-minute interview with a national expert. Specific emphasis will be placed on how to approach sensitive topics with youth in a way that reduces discomfort for both youth and adult. A 24-episode series is planned and will be shared on streaming platforms as well as a project webpage. The podcast is intended to increase interest in learning more about youth risk behavior, and direct listeners to attend a free, virtual training. Resources will be promoted in schools, Extension offices, and community agencies where parents and youth development professionals congregate. All materials will also be archived and available online on a project webpage.Objective 1:Utilizeresearch-informed practices to develop educational programming about youth risk behaviors, including substance use/misuse, for youth development professionals andparentsin rural communities.Outcome #1: Increase in knowledge about youth risk behavior among youth development professionals and parents in rural communities.Outcome #2: Increase in self-efficacy among youth development professionals and parents in rural communities.Objective 2: Improve access to high-quality, virtual educational resources related to youth risk behavior for youth development professionals and parents in rural communities.Outcome #3: Increase in publicly available resources related to the prevention of youth risk behavior in rural communities by Y3.Outcome #4: Significant increase in number of listeners to the podcast series from Y1 to Y3..
Project Methods
InObjective1:Utilizeresearch-informed practices to develop educational programming about youth risk behaviors, including substance use/misuse, for youth development professionals and caregivers in ruralcommunities,participants will attend a series of research-informed, virtual training modules on youthriskbehavior.Duringregistration,participantswillbeprovidedwithinformationaboutthe project and asked to provide informed consent to allow for data collection. Following consent, participants will be prompted to create a personal identification code, and complete a pre-test survey assessing demographic characteristics, a module-specific knowledge quiz, and a self- efficacy survey.Followingsurveycompletion,attendeeswillrespondtoashortpromptrequiring reflection on the content of the selected upcoming training.At the end of each training,participantswill be prompted to complete thesameknowledge and self-efficacy surveysasa post-test assessment. Participants will receive an email 3 months following the training requesting the completion of a follow-up survey to assess retention of knowledge and self- efficacy.Participantsareexpectedtocompleteaminimumoftwotrainingmodules;thesame pre-, post-, and follow-up assessments will be completed for each module.The current project will develop a new live, virtual training series consisting of 8, 1-2 hour, modules aimed at educating rural youth development professionals and caregivers about trends in youth risk behavior, and how to appropriately addressthebehavior.The training will bedivided into threesections.Module1: Foundational Knowledge, andModule 2: Foundational Skillswill be required modules for all participants. Participants will learn protective and risk factors that influence youth behavior as well as best practices in risk prevention.The skills course will address topics such as how to recognize and navigate personal reactions and discomfort, how to start conversations with youth, and ways to de-escalatestressfulsituations.Participantswillhavetheoptionofcompletingthetrainingin2, 2-hour blocks, or 1, 4-hour block. Theremaining 6 modules will be optional and grouped into two categories: Health Risk Behavior, and Digital Health Risk Behavior. The Health Risk Behavior section will includeModule 3: Substance Use, Module 4: Sexuality, and Module 5: Mental Health. Each module willcoverthelatesttrendsinriskbehaviorwhilealsoprovidingparticipantswithpracticaltools for supporting youth including scripts for effective communication and reflection activities. During the 2-hour training, participants will be encouraged to practice the tools in breakout sessions. The Digital Health Risk Behavior section will consist ofModule 6: Pornography, Module7:DigitalAddictions,andModule8:DigitalSafety.Thedigitalrisksectionwillfocus on both online activities such as social media use and cyberbullying, as well as offline digital behavior like gaming and sexting. Modules 3-8 are optional allowing participants to selecttrainings most relevant to their needs.Allowing for a self-directed learning option has been associatedwithknowledge,satisfaction,andself-efficacyamongtrainees(Jacksonetal.,2013).Atotal of 22 virtual trainings are intended to reach at least 1,000 participants. To assess expected outcomes, responses to pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys will be analyzed both within and between subjects.Contentknowledgerelatedtoriskbehaviorisexpectedtoincreaseand will be assessed via aknowledge test developed by the project team. Programming is also expected to increase self-efficacy among participantsand will be assessed with the 10-item General Self-Efficacy questionnaire (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995).To assess for potential demographic differences in change in knowledge and self-efficacy, gender,age,ethnicity,educationlevel,participanttype(professionalorcaregiver),ageofchild (if applicable), and number ofmodulescompleted will beincluded asindependent variablesin the analyses.Understandinggroupdifferencesmaybeusedtotailorfutureprogrammingtothe audience (Hecht et al., 2003).ForObjective2:Improveaccesstohigh-quality,virtualeducationalresourcesrelated to youth risk behavior for youth development professionals and caregivers in ruralcommunities,a 24-episode podcast will be developed and distributed. Episodeswillcontain30-minutediscussionsofhowtotalktoateenaboutspecificriskbehavior. Additionally, a digital repository of episodes and training information will be posted to a project webpage. Materials will be promoted in multiple online and physical venuesincludingsocialmedia,aprojectwebpage,emaillists,professionalconferencesattended by youth development professionals, and state offices of rural health.. Objective 2 will be assessed by tracking the number of podcast listeners over time, with the expectationofanincreasingtrend.Participationratesoflistenersonall streaming platforms will be assessed monthly to evaluate change over time.