xperience.htm

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Place-based Social Marketing to Prevent Party Drug Use among Urban Youth: Xperience Project

Research Method: Intervention

Principal Investigators: Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D., ICR, Leslie Snyder, Ph.D., UConn Center for Health Communication & Marketing (Co-PI), Sarah Diamond, Ph.D., ICR (Co-PI)

Grant: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 P01 CD000237-01.

Partners: Center for Health Communication and Marketing at the University of Connecticut, Young Studios, Mi Casa Family Services and Educational Center

Dates of study: 2006-2008

Background

While many evidence-based interventions exist to reduce drug use among middle-school aged youth, fewer evidence-based drug prevention interventions exist targeting older teens and young adults from ethnically diverse urban communities. Studies show that although the majority of urban teens may have tried alcohol or marijuana, most do not use these drugs very frequently nor have they ever used any other illicit drugs. However, during the period of emerging adulthood (ages 14-20), adolescents commonly experience risk-taking and exploration, changing goals and identities, and expanding social networks – all of which can lead to initiation into harder drugs and escalating patterns of use. Thus, during the years of emerging adulthood, it is increasingly important to offer urban youth new resources and experiences that will affirm and support their decision to generally avoid using alcohol and other drugs.

ICR study Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth determined that there are substantial numbers of young people ages 14-30 who actively avoid, do not initiate, or have only experimented in a limited way with hard drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine and dust. In Supplement to Pathways to High-Risk Drug Abuse Among Urban Youth: Club Drugs, researchers determined that ecstasy diffused in Hartford through drug using, then selling, networks, and that club, bar and party venues were common sites where youth observed and were initiated into its use. Formative data from ethnographic observation and interviews with youth led to the conclusion that there was a need for more drug-free entertainment options for youth in the city. Prevention experts at ICR thus pilot-tested the concept of an Xperience show, where approximately 100 youth attended a substance-free open-mic show in downtown Hartford in 2002. Data from the project Urban Lifestyles: Club Drugs, Resource Inequities and Health Risks in Urban Youth with a general sample of urban youth (between ages 16-20) suggest that most youth were aware of consequences for using drugs and so largely decided not to, despite opportunities to do so. With continuing contextual and peer pressures to use party drugs, research shows that without intervention, some of these resistant or abstinent youth will initiate drug use between the 14 – 20 years of age. Xperience (2006-2008) intervention seeks to support the substance free lifestyle of youth at a critical juncture when they are making these decisions.

Project Goals and Objectives

To develop and implement a drug prevention intervention based on youth culture that integrates entertainment-education with drug prevention messages, to support urban youth, ages 14 – 20, in their decision not to use drugs.
To create a brand recognition for Xperience as an approach to “drug-free entertainment” for youth who choose not to use drugs and to hold Xperience shows and events throughout the city.
To evaluate the short-term efficacy of the intervention against a matched community control group.
To produce a procedural manual and audiovisual product for dissemination of the intervention model to other sites and promoters in urban areas throughout the country.
To pilot test the use of Interactive Voice Response technology for survey administration.

Project Details

Between 550 and 600 youth (ages 14-20) will be recruited to participate in the Xperience intervention study. Those enrolled in the intervention and control group will report on their drug use at intake, and 3-4 months at post-test. In the project’s first year, researchers worked with focus groups of youth to develop drug-prevention messages which were then incorporated into the performances of local artists at live entertainment shows, and disseminated via a CD, print materials, a website, and promotional products. Four shows took place in Hartford over the summer of 2006 and a final CD-release show was held in the spring of 2007 with over 180 people in attendance. The Xperience Vol 1 CD was produced and over 500 copies were distributed to youth in the city. Youth who came to the shows were also given free promotional materials with drug prevention messages. Xperience staff promoted the concept of youth-led drug-free entertainment at numerous events and locations throughout the city of Hartford.

In 2007, Xperience initiated a four and a half month program at Mi Casa Family and Educational Services, Inc in Hartford, to work with youth in creating drug-free entertainment events in their community and city. These events include a VIP show for friends and community members, Vol II CD and a city-wide CD release show to be held at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in downtown Hartford in January ‘08. Twenty-four youth enrolled at in the program for the fall cycle. An additional 50-80 youth will be recruited to become Xperience VIP members, and invited to attend the private Xperience VIP show where they will receive Xperience promotional items and the Vol. 1 CD with drug prevention messages. This four and a half month program will be implemented again in March of ’08. Data from the ’07-‘08 intervention cohorts will be compared to a control cohort of youth from Hartford to evaluate the efficacy of the program. A program manual will be completed in 2008 to enable other agencies around the country to host Xperience drug-free events and training programs.

Interim Project Findings
Poster presentation (pdf)

Project Contact:
Sarah Diamond

Co-Principal Investigator

(860) 278-2044 ext. 305

Project Staff:
ICR

Jean J. Schensul, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Sarah Diamond, Ph.D.

Co-Principal Investigator

Scientific Director

Alessandro Rey Bermudez

Intervention Director

Maritza Lopez