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Assisting in Rehabilitating Kids (ARK)

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

The goal of Assisting in Rehabilitating Kids (ARK) is to increase abstinence and safer sex behaviors among substance-dependent adolescents. This 12-session intervention is delivered to small groups of youth over a period of 28 days and provides education, behavioral skills training, and motivational risk-sensitization manipulation.

During the first two sessions, the students are taught standard HIV and STD information. In the next five sessions, behavioral skills are addressed and students are provided with information about correct condom use, partner negotiation, and skills which can help them refuse unwanted sex. The following four sessions teach problem-solving and anger management skills and the final session focuses on the motivational aspects of behavior change.

Goal / Mission

The goal of Assisting in Rehabilitating Kids (ARK) is to increase abstinence and safer sex behaviors among substance-dependent adolescents.

Impact

The ARK program successfully increased sexual abstinence among those who received all components: health information, behavior skills training, and risk-sensitization manipulation, with the inclusion of the latter being more resistant to decay over time.

Results / Accomplishments

In one study, ARK participants were compared to a group of students who received standard health education. The study found that a significantly greater percentage of participants who received the ARK intervention reported abstinence (p<0.05) and a significantly lower frequency of unprotected vaginal sex (p<0.05) when compared to the health education group at both the 6- and 12- month follow-up intervals.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Mississippi State University - Meridian
Primary Contact
Dr. Janet St. Lawrence
Mississippi State University – Meridian
Division of Arts & Sciences
1000 Hwy 19 North, Meridian, MS 39307-5799
jlawrence@meridian.msstate.edu
Topics
Health / Adolescent Health
Organization(s)
Mississippi State University - Meridian
Source
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Date of publication
Aug 2002
Date of implementation
1995
Location
Mississippi
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12182264
Target Audience
Teens
Additional Audience
substance-dependent youth

Related Promising Practices

  1. Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART)
  2. Healthy Love
  3. HIV/STD Risk Reduction Interventions for African American and Latino Adolescent Girls
  4. Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model HIV Intervention

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Related Content for: Assisting in Rehabilitating Kids (ARK)

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.
MiCalhoun