Biomedical subjects

Jerald R Herting

Publications and source records attributed to Jerald R Herting.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

Culturally specific adaptation of a prevention intervention: an international collaborative research project.

This study adapted a U.S. drug use prevention program for use with Russian at-risk adolescents, and explored directions for further development of programs addressing prevention of substance abuse and other health risk behaviors including risk of HIV infection. The adaptation process was conducted in phases, initially carried out in Seattle with 23 bilingual (English-Russian) youth and then further adapted in two Moscow schools with 44 "typical" youth. In the final phase, program adaptation for the Russian at-risk adolescents was achieved by conducting a pilot test of the adapted program lessons with Moscow at-risk adolescents (n=10), who met criteria of poor school performance and/or truancy. Observations and experience were used throughout to adapt and refine the program for at-risk youth. Modifications were made to represent more accurately colloquial Russian and to capture teen experiences common to Russian culture. Both U.S. and Russian youth characterized the lessons as engaging and valuable. They also expressed a need to learn about sexuality, drug use, and health; peer and romantic relationships; and problem-solving strategies.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2005

The mediating roles of anxiety depression, and hopelessness on adolescent suicidal behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness as mediators between known risk factors and suicidal behaviors among 1,287 potential high school dropouts. As a step toward theory development, a model was tested that posited the relationships among these variables and their effects on suicidal behaviors. Structural equation models, estimated separately by gender, revealed support for the model, and substantial similarities between males and females. The results showed direct effects of depression and hopelessness on suicidal behaviors for males, and direct effects of hopelessness, but not depression, for females. For both males and females, anxiety was directly linked to depression and hopelessness; drug involvement had both direct and indirect effects on suicidal behavior. As hypothesized, lack of family support showed indirect influences on suicidal behaviors through anxiety for both males and females. The results have important implications for future model development regarding adolescent suicidal behaviors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Evaluating and rejecting true mediation models: a cautionary note.

This research note describes an overlooked problem in understanding whether a given variable in a model truly acts as a mediator between some exogenous variable(s) and some final dependent factor. Demonstrations of mediation and the rules for identifying have relied on simple 3-variable models with an explicit direct effects alternative model as the competing explanation. Incorporating a 4th variable demonstrates that it is quite simple to reject mediation when a true form of mediation exists. In the presence of an unobserved relation, correlated error, between mediator variable and outcome variable, the 3-variable model will consistently show direct effects when, in fact, there is no direct effect of the exogenous variable. Applying well-established rules to test for mediation in this circumstance cannot distinguish a model in which pure mediation is rejected from a model in which true mediation is correct. This poses a fundamental problem for the typical assessment of mediation offered by the Baron and Kenny procedures.

Adolescent↗