The effects of the PARTY program on youths' risk-taking behaviours and beliefs

The PARTY (Prevent Alcohol Related Trauma in Youth) program is a one-day hospital-based program that targets youth in Grade 10. The programs' intention is to educate youth in the dangers of irresponsible alcohol use and how this contributes to preventable trauma. The study of the PARTY program used a 12-item questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in changing youths' risk-taking behaviors. The main objectives were to (a) carry out psychometric analysis of the questionnaire, (b) assess cognitive changes in regards to risk-taking behaviors and beliefs of Grade 10 students three months after completing the PARTY program, and (c) assess gender, location, and school structure differences in risk-taking behaviors and beliefs. The study utilized a mixed design as the program is using a pre-and post-program survey for data collection. The study sample consisted of Grade 10 students from senior and junior secondary schools in the School District 57 region that included one rural senior secondary school, three urban senior secondary schools, one urban junior secondary school and a private senior secondary school. Two of the schools had an insufficient number of participants completing all three times of measurement and were not included in analyses involving individual schools. A total of280 students completed the first questionnaire and of those 162 (57.8%) completed all three times of measure and were used in the study. Results indicate that the PARTY program has a positive effect on the risk-taking behaviors and beliefs of urban girls and boys, and rural girls attending senior secondary schools. The PARTY program showed no significant effect on the risk-taking behaviors and beliefs of junior secondary boys and girls, or rural boys.