Jessica Skenderian:
Communicating the Risks of Drug Use to Adolescents
Ph.D. student Jessie Skenderian is analyzing data from the National Survey of Parents and Youth to help prevent substance use among adolescents. The goal behind her research is to improve the effectiveness of prevention interventions targeting adolescents. Jessie is investigating adolescents who were not marijuana users initially, but then became users at a later time, to understand how changes in expectancies associated with use lead to subsequent changes in intentions. Jessie hopes that eventually this research can be used to create more effective anti-drug media campaigns and other prevention measures. “What we have concluded from our research is that caution must be used when creating anti-drug messages, if adolescents find that the harms of using drugs are not as serious as they thought, on the basis of well-intentioned prevention strategies, their intentions to use may increase.”
“It is important for anti-drug campaigns to apply the principles of social psychology and supporting research when creating anti-drug messages to effectively reduce substance use among adolescents.”
Jessie has also completed a related study from the same data set in which they investigated adolescents who transitioned middle school versus those who did not have to make this transition and how this impacted substance use. The results revealed that those who transitioned schools were more likely to engage in substance use in comparison to adolescents who did not undergo this shift. “Developmental research points to the fact that adolescents are going through many changes during this period of their lives, the added change of a new school increases the negative consequences that they experience, one of which is substance use.” “The findings emphasize the need for specific programs targeting adolescents experiencing a middle school transition that are designed to alleviate the many challenges they face and decrease the likelihood that they will use drugs in the future.”
Jessie’s interest in health behavior began with her studies at California State University, Long Beach where she researched eating disorders among women for her Master’s thesis. She later became an intern at the Orange County Health Care Agency where she did a fair amount of tracking of mental health and substance abuse interventions which pushed her further into the substance use prevention side of health behavior. Working with Drs. Crano and Siegel has given her access to a vast data set which she is happy to be using in new and creative ways—producing not only publications, but valuable insights that may save lives in the future.
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