Youth Message Development (YMD)

Adolescents 12-17 years old

For children/adolescents ages: 12 - 17

Youth Message Development (YMD) is a 4-lesson, face-to-face delivered curriculum to prevent adolescent substance use among 12- to 17-year-olds. The youth are shown the strategies that alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) companies use to attract young people to use their products. They also discuss the statements used by these companies and the anti-substance-use organizations. The curriculum content is grounded in media literacy and social-cognitive theories and guided by experiential-learning principles. The activities are designed to be engaging and encourage collaborations and discussions among participants. The curriculum incorporates ads for generating discussion and analysis, activities to increase involvement, and small-group structure to facilitate learning from peers.

Michael Hecht
REAL Prevention

• https://realprevention.org/youth-message-development-program/
• Email: hechtpsu@gmail.com

The goals of Youth Message Development (YMD) are:

• Increase student knowledge of advertising techniques used to sell alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) products
• Develop student counter-arguing and critical-thinking skills in response to ATOD messages
• Assist students in actively applying these skills and techniques to create youth-driven, anti-substance-use messages

The essential components of Youth Message Development (YMD) include:

• Youth Message Development (YMD) consists of four lessons that can be implemented in a classroom, in afterschool care, or other youth service context. YMD focuses on the following topics:
• LESSON-1: Media reach and persuasion strategies used by advertisers to sell ATOD products
• LESSON-2: Claims used in ATOD messages and counterarguments used in anti-ATOD messages
• LESSON-3: Production techniques used by advertisers including setting, colors, font size, and object placement
• LESSON-4: The active application of content learned in lessons 1-3 to the development of a poster that includes an anti-substance-use message
• The lessons can be implemented flexibly; the four lessons can be taught in:
• One 90-minute session
• Separated across four 20- to-25-minute sessions
• Two 45-minute lessons
• Lessons can be taught to groups of up to 30 students.
• Additional youth involvement and application can be encouraged by including optional activities.
• The program includes:
• Teacher’s Guide with all four lessons
• Student handouts
• PowerPoint presentation

Child/Adolescent Services

Youth Message Development (YMD) directly provides services to children and addresses the following:

• Adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years of age that may or may not be tempted to try alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs

Recommended Intensity

The four lessons can be implemented flexibly. The four lessons can be taught in one 90-minute session; separated across four 20- to-25-minute sessions; or two 45-minute lessons.

Recommended Duration

Flexible – one to four weeks depending on length of session and time between sessions

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Computer, projector, 1 teacher, space for students

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

No minimum qualifications.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

• REAL Prevention, Greene, K., Banerjee, S., & Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2017). Youth Message Development. REAL Prevention.

Please see training contact listed below for more information.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

Training is optional, but available through REAL Prevention (www.real-prevention.com). Trainers come to your location (onsite). Optionally, there is a video conference-based training available for 1–2 participants.

Number of days/hours:

1-day training is typical; 2-day is available.

“What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?”

• Note: The following studies were not included in rating Youth Message Development on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Banerjee, S. C., & Greene, K. (2006). Analysis versus production: Adolescent cognitive and attitudinal responses to anti-smoking interventions. Journal of Communication, 56(4), 773-794. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00319.x

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to explore the efficacy of two interventions to help adolescents refrain from smoking initiation.  Participants were randomly assigned to experimental group E1 (analysis workshop), experimental group E2 (production workshop [now called Youth Message Development (YMD)]), or a non-treatment control group. Measures utilized include questionnaires regarding attitude towards smoking, attention to the workshop, workshop comprehension and recall, and workshop perception. Results indicate that there is overall support for the production workshop (E2) in eliciting more attention and positive workshop perceptions than the analysis workshop (E1). The production workshop (E2) was also successful in reducing positive attitudes towards smoking over time. Limitations include sampling biases, lack of generalizability due to the ethnicity of the sample, lack of standardized measures, and lack of follow-up. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to criteria on the Scientific Rating Scale which requires that outcome measures be reliable and valid, and administered consistently and accurately across all subjects.

• Note: The following studies were not included in rating Youth Message Development on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Banerjee, S. C., & Greene, K. (2007). Anti-smoking initiatives: Effects of analysis versus production media literacy interventions on smoking-related attitude, norm, and behavioral intention. Health Communication, 22(1), 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230701310281

  Summary:

  The study used the same sample as Banerjee & Greene (2006). The purpose of the study was to explore the efficacy of two interventions to help adolescents refrain from smoking initiation. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental group E1 (analysis workshop), experimental group E2 (production workshop [now called Youth Message Development (YMD)]), or a non-treatment control group. Measures utilized include questionnaires regarding behavioral intention to smoke, attitude toward smoking, and subjective norms. Results indicate that the production workshop (E2) was generally more successful than the analysis workshop (E1) and the control group in changing participants’ behavioral intention to smoke and attitude toward smoking, but not subjective norms over time. Limitations include sampling biases, lack of generalizability due to the ethnicity of the sample, lack of standardized measures, and lack of follow-up. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of standardized measures.

• Banerjee, S. C., & Greene, K. (2016). Substance abuse prevention message generation and engaging adolescents in health message planning and/or production of health promotion messages. In J. F. Nussbaum (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of communication. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.197

• Greene, K., & Banerjee, S. C. (2013). Reducing smoking disparities for Hispanic adolescents: Empowerment through media literacy. In G. Kreps & M. Dutta (Eds.), Reducing health disparities: Communication interventions (pp. 278-296). Peter Lang Publishing.

• Greene, K., Banerjee, S. C., Ray, A. E., & Hecht, M. L. (2017). Active involvement interventions in health and risk messaging. In R. L. Parrott (Ed.), Oxford encyclopedia of health and risk message design and processing (pp. 1-36). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.527