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ÖREBRO STUDIES IN CARE SCIENCES 29 2010 issn 1652-1153 isbn 978-91-7668-748-2Camilla Pettersson works at Örebro University with research and development of alcohol and drug prevention projects implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Sweden (FUFAD – Forskarteamet för utvärde-ring av frivilligorganisationers alkohol- och drogförebyg-gande arbete). She earned her bachelor’s degree in public health at Örebro University in 2003. She has previously worked with alcohol and drug prevention practice targe-ting children and adolescents at an alcohol, tobacco, and narcotics centre at the Department of Community Medicine, Örebro County Council. Her main research interest is preventing underage alcohol drinking, with a special focus on parental involvement.
From a public health perspective, it is of great importance that knowledge be gained about how to prevent alcohol use among adolescents, as underage drin-king is related to problems for individuals, families, and society. NGOs have an important role to play in this work, but little attention has been devoted to evaluating their efforts. The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare has developed a unique national program to support NGOs implementing alcohol and drug prevention projects. This national program also consists of support for research and development. This thesis has been written within the context of this program, and the findings show that a trustful partnership has been created between national agencies, researchers, and practitioners, which has improved the quality and success rate of the interventions and contributed to more cost-effective research. The thesis has a special focus on parents’ possibilities to prevent underage drinking and includes an eva-luation of IOGT-NTO’s parental support program Strong and Clear, which targets parents of children aged 13–16 years old. The results revealed that the program contributed to maintaining parents’ restrictive attitudes towards underage drinking, postponing alcohol debut, and preventing drunkenness. The thesis also showed the importance of designing programs that attract parents independently of gender and educational level. This thesis suggests that a national program to support the alcohol prevention efforts of NGOs, which includes integrated support for research and development, is beneficial for practice as well as for research.
Örebro Studies in Care Sciences 29
örebro 2010 Doctoral Dissertation
Parents’ Possibility to Prevent Underage Drinking
Studies of Parents, a Parental Support Program, and Adolescents
in the Context of a National Program to Support NGOs
Camilla Pettersson
Care Sciences with a focus on Public Health