Culture plays an important role in all health message design, and school-based substance abuse prevention is no exception. Because most adolescent substance abuse prevention programs in the United States are delivered in schools, this is particularly important given the diversity of the students. Unfortunately, there is little theory to guide these programs and fewer programs that successfully achieve cultural competence. Using communication accommodation theory as a framework, this article articulates the principle of cultural grounding using the Drug Resistance Strategies Project as an exemplar. The article then describes a line of research describing youth, ethnic, and gender cultures leading to the development and evaluation of the keepin’ it REAL curriculum. Results demonstrate the efficacy of a multicultural approach to prevention in controlling the onset of adolescent drug use.
Alberts, J. K., Hecht, M. L., Miller-Rassulo, M., & Krizek, R. L. (1992). The communicative process of drug resistance among high school students. Adolescence, 27, 203-226.
2.
Alberts, J. K., Miller-Rassulo, M., & Hecht, M. L. (1991). A typology of drug resistance strategies. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 19, 129-151.
3.
Bogenschneider, K. (1996). An ecological risk protective theory for building prevention programs, policies, and community capacity to support youth. Family Relations, 45, 127-138.
4.
Botvin, G. J., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L. D., Botvin, E. M., & Diaz, T. (1995). Long-term follow-up results of a randomized drug abuse prevention trial in a White middle-class population. Journal of the American Medical Association, 273, 1106-1112.
5.
Botvin, G. J., Dusenbury, L., Baker, E., James-Ortiz, S., Botvin, E. M., & Kerner, J. (1992). Smoking prevention among urban minority youth: Assessing effects on outcome and mediating variables. Health Psychology, 11, 290-299.
6.
Botvin, G. J., Dusenbury, L., Baker, E., James-Ortiz, S., & Kerner, J. (1989). A skills training approach to smoking prevention among Hispanic youth. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 279-296.
7.
Carbaugh, D. (2005). Cultures in conversation. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Castro, F. G., Barrera, M., Jr., & Martinez, C. R. (2004). The cultural adaptation of prevention interventions: Resolving tensions between fidelity and fit. Prevention Science, 5, 41-45.
9.
Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1015-1026.
10.
Elek, E., Miller-Day, M., & Hecht, M. L. (in press). Influences of personal, injunctive, and descriptive norms on early adolescent substance use. Journal of Drug Issues.
11.
Elliot, D. S., & Mihalic, S. (2004). Issues in disseminating and replicating effective prevention programs. Prevention Science, 5, 47-53.
12.
Fisher, W. (1987). Human communication as narration: Toward a philosophy of reason, value, and action. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
13.
Gallois, C., Ogay, T., & Giles, H. (2005). Communication accommodation theory: A look back and a look ahead. In W. Gudykunst (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 121-148). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
Giles, H., Fox, S., & Smith, E. (1993). Patronizing the elderly: Intergenerational evaluations. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 26, 129-149.
15.
Gosin, M. N., Dustman, P. A., Harthun, M. L., & Drapeau, A. E. (2003). Participatory action research: Creating an effective prevention curriculum for adolescents in the southwest. Health Education Research: Theory & Practice, 18, 363-379.
16.
Gosin, M., Marsiglia, F. F., & Hecht, M. L. (2003). Keepin’ it real: A drug resistance curriculum tailored to the strengths and needs of pre-adolescents to the southwest. Journal of Drug Education, 33, 119-142.
17.
Graham, J. W., Flay, B. R., Johnson, C. A., Hansen, W. B., & Collins, L. M. (1984). Group comparability: A multiattribute utility measurement approach to the use of random assignment with small numbers of aggregated units. Evaluation Review, 8, 247-260.
18.
Green, J. (1999). Cultural awareness in human services: A multiethnic approach (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
19.
Harwood, J., Giles, H., Fox, S., Ryan, E. B., & Williams, A. (1993). Patronizing young and elderly adults: Response strategies in a community setting. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 21, 211-226.
20.
Hecht, M. L., Alberts, J. K., & Miller-Rassulo, M. (1992). Resistance to drug offers among college students. International Journal of the Addictions, 27, 995-1017.
21.
Hecht, M. L., Corman, S., & Miller-Rassulo, M. (1993). An evaluation of the drug resistance project: A comparison of film versus live performance. Health Communication, 5, 75-88.
22.
Hecht, M. L., & Driscoll, G. (1994). A comparison of the communication, social, situational, and individual factors associated with alcohol and other drugs. International Journal of the Addictions, 29, 1225-1243.
23.
Hecht, M. L., Graham, J. W., & Elek, E. (in press). The drug resistance strategies intervention: Program effects on substance use. Health Communication.
24.
Hecht, M. L., Jackson, R. L., & Ribeau, S. (2003). African American communication: Exploring identity and culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
25.
Hecht, M. L., Marsiglia, F. F., Elek, E., Wagstaff, D. A., Kulis, S., Dustman, P., et al. (2003). Culturally-grounded substance use prevention: An evaluation of the keepin’ it R.E.A.L. curriculum. Prevention Science, 4, 23-248.
26.
Hecht, M. L., & Miller-Day, M. (in press). The Drug Resistance Strategies Project: A communication approach to preventing adolescent drug use. In L. Frey & K. Cissna (Eds.), Handbook of applied communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
27.
Hecht, M. L., Ribeau, S., & Sedano, M. V. (1990). A Mexican American perspective on interethnic communication. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 31-55.
28.
Hecht, M. L., Trost, M. R., Bator, R. J., & MacKinnon, D. (1997). Ethnicity and sex similarities and differences in drug resistance. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 25, 75-97.
29.
Johnson, C. A., Unger, J. B., Ritt-Olson, A., Palmer, P. H., Cen, S. Y., Gallaher, P., et al. (2005). Smoking prevention for ethnically diverse adolescents: 2-year outcomes of a multicultural, school-based smoking prevention curriculum in Southern California. Preventive Medicine, 40, 842-852.
30.
Johnston, L. D., O’Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2005). Monitoring the future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2004 (NIH Publication No. 05-5726). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
31.
Komro, K. A., Perry, C., Veblen-Mortenson, S., Bosma, L. M., Dudovitz, B. S., Williams, C. L., et al. (2004). Brief report: The adaptation of project northland for urban youth. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 29, 457-466.
32.
Kreuter, M. W., Lukwago, S. N., Bucholtz, D. C., Clark, E. M., & Sanders-Thompson, V. (2003). Achieving cultural appropriateness in health promotion programs: Targeted and tailored approaches. Heath Education and Behavior, 30, 133-133.
33.
Krizek, R. L., Hecht, M. L., & Miller-Rassulo, M. (1993). Language as an indicator of risk in the prevention of drug use. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 21, 245-262.
34.
Kulis, S., Marsiglia, F. F., Elek, E., Dustman, P., Wagstaff, D. A., & Hecht, M. L. (2005). Mexican/Mexican American adolescents and keepin’ it real: An evidence-based, substance abuse prevention program. Children and Schools, 27, 133-145.
35.
Marsiglia, F. F., Kulis, S., & Hecht, M. L. (2001). Ethnic labels and ethnic identity as predictors of drug use and drug exposure among middle school students in the southwest. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 21-48.
36.
Marsiglia, F. F., Kulis, S., Wagstaff, D. A., Elek, E., & Dran, D. (2005). Acculturation status and substance use prevention with Mexican and Mexican American youth. Journal of Social Work in the Addiction, 5, 85-111.
37.
Miller, M., Alberts, J. K., Hecht, M. L., Trost, M., & Krizek, R. L. (2000). Adolescent relationships and drug use. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
38.
Miller, M., Hecht, M., & Stiff, J. (1998). An exploratory measurement of engagement with live and film media. Journal of Illinois Speech and Theater Association, 49, 69-83.
39.
Miller-Day, M. A. (2002). Parent-adolescent communication about alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 604-616.
40.
Miller-Day, M. (2004). Grandmothers, mothers, and adult daughters: A qualitative study of women across three generations. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
41.
Miller-Day, M., & Barnett, J. (2004). “I’m not a druggie”: Adolescents’ ethnicity and (erroneous) beliefs about drug use norms. Health Communication, 16, 207-288.
42.
Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N, (2003). Community-based participatory research for health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
43.
Moon, D. G., Hecht, M. L., Jackson, K. M., & Spellers, R. (1999). Ethnic and gender differences and similarities in adolescent drug use and the drug resistance process. Substance Use and Misuse, 34, 1059-1083.
44.
Moon, D. G., Jackson, K. M., & Hecht, M. L. (2000). Family risk and resiliency factors, substance use, and the drug resistance process in adolescence. Journal of Drug Education, 30, 373-398.
45.
Polansky, J. M., Buki, L. P., Horan, J. J., Ceperich, S. D., & Burows, D. D. (1999). The effectiveness of substance abuse prevention videotapes with Mexican American adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 21, 186-198.
46.
Resnicow, K., Baronowski, T., Ahluwalia, J. S., & Braithwaite, R. L. (1999). Cultural sensitivity in public health: Defined and demystified. Ethnicity and Disease, 9, 10-21.
47.
Ringwalt, C. L., Ennett, S., Vincus, A., & Simons-Rudolph, A. (2004). Students’ special needs and problems as reasons for the adaptation of substance abuse prevention curricula in the nation’s middle schools. Prevention Science, 5, 197-206.
48.
Ryan, E. B., Bourhis, R. Y., & Knops, U. (1991). Evaluative perceptions of patronizing speech addressed to elders. Psychology of Aging, 6, 442-450.
49.
Smith, E. A., Vicary, J. R., Swisher, J. D., & Bechtel, L. (2005). Life skills infusion/prevention in rural junior high grades (Grant No. r01 DA 11254). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
50.
Spitzberg, B. H., & Cupach, W. R. (1984). Interpersonal communication competence. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
51.
Street, R. L., & Giles, H. (1982). Speech accommodation theory: A social cognitive approach to language and speech behavior. In M. Roloff & C. R. Berger (Eds.), Social cognition and communication (pp. 193-226). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
