A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Health Rocks!—Insights from Retrospective and Prospective Studies.
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| Title: | A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effectiveness of Health Rocks!—Insights from Retrospective and Prospective Studies. |
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| Authors: | Yang, Zhenqiao (AUTHOR), Wang, Yunqi (AUTHOR), Xia, Yan Ruth (AUTHOR), de Guzman, Maria Rosario T. (AUTHOR), Wang, Dan (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Substance Use & Misuse. 2026, Vol. 61 Issue 7, p1046-1054. 9p. |
| Subjects: | Substance abuse prevention, Health literacy, Effect sizes (Statistics), Research funding, Educational outcomes, Evaluation of human services programs, Meta-analysis, Descriptive statistics, Systematic reviews, Health education, Confidence intervals, Adolescence |
| Abstract: | Background: Adolescence is a crucial stage for substance abuse prevention. However, evaluations of adolescent substance abuse prevention programs often lacked a comprehensive perspective, failing to consider multiple program characteristics. Objectives: This study aimed to improve knowledge of the effectiveness of large-scale adolescent substance abuse prevention programs by comprehensively evaluating Health Rocks! through multifaceted evidence from the literature. It also sought to provide insights into utilizing retrospective designs in program evaluation research. Results: Using systematic review and meta-analysis approaches, this study included eight final studies published between January 2009 and October 2024. The systematic review revealed different types of assessment on Health Rocks! in the literature. The program's strong implementation quality contributed to program effectiveness. The meta-analysis found small effect sizes in three program outcomes in youth knowledge, skills, and psychological assets. We also observed variation in unweighted effect sizes between the studies using retrospective and prospective designs. Conclusions: Health Rocks! appeared to be a high quality national program. Evidence supported the ulitity of retrospective design but with a potential challenge of inflation in effect size. More insights on program effectiveness, retrospective design and improvement of future research are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Background: Adolescence is a crucial stage for substance abuse prevention. However, evaluations of adolescent substance abuse prevention programs often lacked a comprehensive perspective, failing to consider multiple program characteristics. Objectives: This study aimed to improve knowledge of the effectiveness of large-scale adolescent substance abuse prevention programs by comprehensively evaluating Health Rocks! through multifaceted evidence from the literature. It also sought to provide insights into utilizing retrospective designs in program evaluation research. Results: Using systematic review and meta-analysis approaches, this study included eight final studies published between January 2009 and October 2024. The systematic review revealed different types of assessment on Health Rocks! in the literature. The program's strong implementation quality contributed to program effectiveness. The meta-analysis found small effect sizes in three program outcomes in youth knowledge, skills, and psychological assets. We also observed variation in unweighted effect sizes between the studies using retrospective and prospective designs. Conclusions: Health Rocks! appeared to be a high quality national program. Evidence supported the ulitity of retrospective design but with a potential challenge of inflation in effect size. More insights on program effectiveness, retrospective design and improvement of future research are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 10826084 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/10826084.2025.2592876 |
