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Free to Grow: Translating Substance Abuse Research and Theory into Preventive Practice in a National Head Start Initiative

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Abstract

This article describes the application of the research on risk and protective factors as employed in the design, chosen strategies and pilot testing phase of a national preschool substance abuse prevention initiative. In the absence of research-based model programs aimed at decreasing children's vulnerability to substance abuse as they grow older, the goal of the initiative is demonstrate how preventive research can be applied in the early childhood period in partnership with the national Head Start Program. While the findings from the initial pilot phase are preliminary, the experience to date does provide concrete examples of the practical uses of research to inform practice in addressing substance abuse prevention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Columbia University, Columbia

    Judith E. Jones (Clinical Professor)

  2. Treatment Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, USA

    Marjorie A. Gutman (Director of Prevention Research)

  3. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USA

    Nancy J. Kaufman (Vice President)

Authors
  1. Judith E. Jones
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  2. Marjorie A. Gutman
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  3. Nancy J. Kaufman
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Jones, J.E., Gutman, M.A. & Kaufman, N.J. Free to Grow: Translating Substance Abuse Research and Theory into Preventive Practice in a National Head Start Initiative. The Journal of Primary Prevention 19, 279–296 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022674406591

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