2007 · Study · English
Effects of the Communities That Care Model in Pennsylvania on Youth Risk and Problem Behaviors
Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T., Osgood, D. W., Sartorius, J., & Bontempo, D.
Feinberg, M. E., Greenberg, M. T., Osgood, D. W., Sartorius, J., & Bontempo, D. (2007). Effects of the Communities That Care Model in Pennsylvania on Youth Risk and Problem Behaviors. Prevention Science, 8(4), 261–270. doi.org/10.1007/s11121-007-0073-6
Summary
The first large-scale quasi-experimental evaluation of youth outcomes under Communities That Care, using state-wide school surveys in Pennsylvania. Fifteen risk factors and six behavioural outcomes (substance use and delinquency) were compared for 38,107 pupils in 2001 and 98,436 pupils in 2003 in communities with and without a CTC coalition, with multilevel models controlling for community poverty. Results favoured CTC communities more often than chance would predict, with lower levels of some risk factors and some problem behaviours; the effects were not uniform across measures. In a follow-up analysis restricted to grade cohorts that could actually have been reached by a CTC-funded programme, given its timing and target age, the evidence of CTC effects was stronger. The authors conclude that community coalitions can shift adolescent public-health problems at population level, particularly when they implement evidence-based programmes. The design is observational, so selection into CTC cannot be ruled out, but it remains the largest naturalistic test of CTC available.