1 CRICOS No J Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Reducing injury among high risk taking adolescents: The development of an intervention program Wider project team includes M. Sheehan, V. Siskind, L. Buckley, B. Partridge, D. Durrington (QUT), J. Western, C. Bond, M. Hayes (UQ) and P. Palamara, (UWA) Presented by Rebekah Chapman

2 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Mortality Rates from Injury: (12 – 24 years) Australia, 1997 (AIHW, 1999) Transport RelatedSuicideInterpersonal violence Males 25.5: 100, : 100,0002.3: 100,000 Females 8.5: 100,0005.9: 100,0001.6: 100,000

3 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Research Aim The overall goal of the intervention research is to reduce injuries among young people (Year 9 level) that are due to risk taking behaviour Risk taking behaviours: Underage drinking and other substance use Underage/unlawful driving Riding as passengers of drink drivers and drink cycling Interpersonal violence

4 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Risk Taking in Adolescence

5 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Underage drinking Alcohol is currently widely used by Australian secondary students (White et al., 2003)  Questionnaire study: 399 secondary schools across Australia; 26,489 students aged years  Those aged 14 years: − 34% of males had consumed alcohol in the last week − 30% of females had consumed alcohol in the last week TABLE 1: Alcohol drinking status, young people aged years, 2001 (AIHW, 2003) Regular (a)Occasional (b)Ex-drinkerNever drank Male20%44%7%29% Female17%52%4%27% (a) Regular: Consumes alcohol on at least one day per week (b) Consumes alcohol less often than one day per week

6 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Illicit Substance Use Proportion of young people aged years who had used an illicit drug in the last 12 months (AIHW, 2003)

7 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Underage driving WA newly licensed drivers (Stevenson & Palamara, 2001) 23% of 1,277 participants drove weekly or even daily prior to obtaining learners license Drink driving and riding in adolescence (Sheehan et al., 1996) n=4527 Queensland high school students, Mean age 14.8 years 35% reported having driven a car on a public road in the past year Underage driving and injury in NSW (Lam, 2003) Crash information reported by NSW police at the scene of motor-vehicle crash incidents Data from RTA for the period 1996 – year olds:  Fatality/injury rate: 13.3 per 100,000 population  Total crash rate: 35.4 per 100,000 population

8 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Drink driving and riding TABLE 2: Activities undertaken by Queensland high school students (Mean age 14.8) after drinking two or more glasses of alcohol in one hour (Sheehan et al., 1996) Rode a bicycle27% Drove a motorbike7% Drove a car6% Drove another motor vehicle2% TABLE 3: Frequency of being a passenger of a drink driver among Queensland high school students (Mean age 14.8) in the past month (Sheehan et al., 1996) Never47% Once17% Twice13% Three to five times13% Six to ten times5% More than could count4%

9 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Interpersonal violence TABLE 4: Violent undertakings of Queensland high school students (Mean age 14.8) in the past year (Sheehan et al., 1996) Taken part in a group fight27% Had a serious fight in school or at work26% Deliberately hurt another person, requiring treatment 9% Physically attacked another person with the intention to take something from them 7%

10 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Risk and Protective Factors Adolescent risk taking Protective Factors Risk Factors Individual: Sensation seeking Impulsiveness Low self esteem Family: Poor supervision Parental modelling Family conflict School: Poor academic performance School misbehaviour Truancy Peers: Peer encouragement of risk taking Peer modelling Individual: Religiosity Attachment to parents Family: Parental monitoring Parental help with school Parental disapproval of risks School: Academic achievement Perceived school connectedness School effort/interest Peers: Peer disapproval of risks Pro-social peers

11 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland The Intervention

Year 9 School population Detention Centres TAFE/Work/ Flexible Learning Normative Group Intervention (WA) High Risk Group Intervention (QLD) Intervention Populations Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland 10 Possible school leavers

13 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Normative Group Intervention (WA) Health Education Program Experimental Region (Normative group) High Schools Students (Year 9) “Dr YES” Intervention

14 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland High Risk Group Intervention (Qld) Multi-target Strategy Experimental Region (High Risk Group) Students (Year 9) Parents/ Guardians Guidance Officers Young people Youth Workers TAFE Police High Schools Centrelink Agencies Teachers Youth Services (e.g. FLP) Other school staff

15 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Qld School-based Intervention

16 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Youth Risk Taking Workshop What for? Present the intervention to Education Qld staff, gauge interest and gain advice Who was involved? Relevant Education Qld head office staff Executive Directors (Schools) and Senior Guidance Officers from the Logan Beaudesert (LB) and Stafford Geebung (SG) Education Districts School staff at State High Schools within LB and SG Flexible learning program staff within LB and SG Focus Groups Three focus group sessions held throughout the day - Education Qld Head Office Staff - School Guidance Officers - Support and alternative education staff - Year Coordinators and teaching staff - LB - Year Coordinators and teaching staff - SG - Teaching and special ed staff - LB

17 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland High risk takers Risk taking begins prior to Year 10 Males are the main problem group but females are becoming more involved Risk taking behaviour is associated with low academic achievement, low self esteem, often low SES and a lack of appropriate parental modelling Implications for change Program needs to run for a couple of years and not just be a once-off Need to involve community based young people A harm minimisation approach is needed Intervention also needs to target parents/guardians Youth Risk Taking Workshop Key Feedback

18 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland Intervention methods and processes Intervention needs to be engaging, interactive and non-traditional, employing a variety of stimulus Must be implemented across the board and integrated into the school curriculum. Some contents should be assessable A Professional Development component is considered important Program should offer teachers greater support in the classroom context Youth Risk Taking Workshop Key Feedback

19 Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland School-based intervention  Schools’ participation  Focus groups with school staff, parents and adolescents  Resources developed and intervention implemented in 2005 Community youth services (including flexible learning programs)  Focus groups with students  Workshops/meetings with staff to discuss intervention methods and processes Develop contacts with TAFE, Centrelink agencies and Catholic/ independent schools Where to from here?