Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Design of Prevention Interventions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Defining Prevention Science

Part of the book series: Advances in Prevention Science ((Adv. Prevention Science))

Abstract

The design of disease prevention and health promotion interventions is a complex process that involves careful decision-making about the health behaviors one aims to change or other outcomes one aims to achieve. This includes understanding the etiologic mechanisms associated with the behavior, such as the prevalence and the risk and protective factors that contribute to it; the intervention strategies that will be effective in producing behavior change; the population subgroups to target with these strategies; the most appropriate modes of program delivery and implementation; how to take into account the developmental stage and other characteristics of the target population; and other issues. A key task in intervention design is to develop and apply a thorough understanding of theory on the determinants of the target health behaviors or other outcomes as well as how to affect change in those behaviors and other outcomes. For the prevention science field to achieve its ultimate goal of improving public health, there must be ongoing development and testing of interventions that build on the latest basic scientific findings, methods, and theory. This chapter provides an overview of the intervention design process and describes three key stages in the process, including the application of a theoretical framework, building the intervention, and pilot testing the intervention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartholomew, L. K., & Mullen, L. K. (2011). Five roles for using theory and evidence in the design and testing of behavior change interventions. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 71, S20–S33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bartholomew, L. K., Parcel, G. S., Kok, G., & Gottlieb, N. H. (2006). Planning health promotion programs: An intervention mapping approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. J., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L., Tortu, S., & Botvin, E. M. (1990). Preventing adolescent drug abuse through a multimodal cognitive-behavioral approach: Results of a three-year study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 437–446.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. J., Botvin, E. M., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L., & Goldberg, C. J. (1992). The false consensus effect: Predicting adolescents’ tobacco use from normative expectations. Psychological Reports, 70, 171–178.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botvin, G. J., Mihalic, S. F., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1998). Life skills training. In D. S. Elliott (Ed.), Blueprints for violence prevention (5th ed.). Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brug, J., Oenema, A., & Campbell, M. (2003). Past, present, and future of computer-tailored nutrition education. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 77, 1028S–1034S.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, F. G., Barrera, M., & Martinez, C. R. (2004). The cultural adaptation of prevention interventions: Resolving tensions between fidelity and fit. Prevention Science, 5(1), 41–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Catania, J. A., Coates, T. J., Stall, R., Bye, L., Kegeles, S. M., Capell, F., et al. (1991). Changes in condom use among homosexual men in San Francisco. Health Psychology, 10, 190–199.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007a). Improving public health practice through translation research (R18). Retrieved from http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CD-07-005.html

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2007b). Best practices for comprehensive tobacco control programs: 2007. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity/best_practices/pdfs/2007/BestPractices_Complete.pdf.

  • Cochrane Collaboration. (2012). Cochrane reviews. Retrieved from http://www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews

  • Coie, J. D., Watt, N. F., West, S. G., Hawkins, D. J., Asarnow, J. R., Markman, H. J., et al. (1993). The science of prevention: A conceptual framework and some directions for a national research program. American Psychologist, 48, 1013–1022.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, L. M., Murphy, S. A., & Bierman, K. L. (2004). A conceptual framework for adaptive preventive interventions. Prevention Science, 5(3), 185–196.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1992). A developmental and clinical model for the prevention of conduct disorders: The fast track program. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 509–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Onofrio, C. N. (2001). Pooling information about prior interventions: A new program planning tool. In S. Sussman (Ed.), Handbook of program development for health behavior research and practice (pp. 158–203). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • DiClemente, C. C., Marinilli, A. S., Singh, M., & Bellino, L. E. (2001). The role of feedback in the process of health behavior change. American Journal of Health Behavior, 25, 217–227.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, United States Department of Education. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/programs.html

  • Eggert, L. L., Thompson, E. A., Herting, J. R., Nicholas, L. J., & Dicker, B. G. (1994). Preventing adolescent drug abuse and high school dropout through an intensive school-based social network development program. American Journal of Health Promotion, 8, 202–215.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellickson, P. L., & Bell, R. M. (1990). Drug prevention in junior high: A multi-site longitudinal test. Science, 247, 1299–1305.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., Ghosh-Dastidar, B., & Longshore, D. L. (2003). New inroads in preventing adolescent drug use: Results from a large-scale trial of Project ALERT in middle schools. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1830–1836.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ellickson, P. L., Miller, L., & Rohrbach, L. A. (2000). ALERT Plus: A drug prevention program for the high school years. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott, D. S. (1997). Blueprints for violence prevention (Vol. 1–11). Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, G. G., Sawyer, R. B., & McNeill, E. B. (2011). Health education: Creating strategies for school and community health (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (2008). Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed.). San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasgow, R. E., Lichtenstein, E., & Marcus, A. C. (2003). Why don’t we see more translation of health promotion research to practice? Rethinking the efficacy-to-effectiveness transition. American Journal of Public Health, 93(8), 1261–1267.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R. (1983). An operational classification of disease prevention. Public Health Reports, 98, 107–109.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, L. W., & Kreuter, M. W. (2005). Health program planning: An educational and ecological approach (4th ed.). Columbus, OH: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, P. G. (1990). Forward. In Smoking, tobacco, and cancer programs. Rockville, MD: National Cancer Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, W. B., & Graham, J. W. (1991). Preventing alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use among adolescents: Peer pressure training versus establishing conservative norms. Preventive Medicine, 20, 414–430.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges, B. C., & Videto, D. M. (2011). Assessment and planning in health programs (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Issel, L. M. (2009). Health program planning and evaluation: A practical and systematic approach for community health (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keefe, J. W. (1987). Learning style: Theory and practice. Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kegeles, S. D., Hays, R., & Coates, T. J. (1996). The MPowerment project: A community-level HIV prevention intervention for young gay men. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 1129–1136.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg Foundation, W. K. (2004). Logic model development guide. Battle Creek, MI: W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. A., Murphy, D. A., Sikkema, K. J., McAuliffe, T. L., Roffman, R. A., Solomon, L. J., et al. (1997). Randomised, controlled, community-level HIV-prevention intervention for sexual-risk behavior among homosexual men in US cities. The Lancet, 350, 1500–1505.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Knowles, M. (1978). The adult learner: A neglected species (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Gulf Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longshore, D., Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., & St. Clair, P. A. (2007). School-based drug prevention among at-risk adolescents: Effects of ALERT Plus. Health Education and Behavior, 34(4), 651–668.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mrazek, P., & Haggerty, R. (1994). Reducing risks for mental disorders: Frontiers for preventive intervention research. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders, Division of Biobehavioral Sciences and Mental Disorders, Institute of Medicine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen, B., Brown, R., & Smith, C. (1992). Ingroup bias as a function of salience, relevance, and status: An integration. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 103–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2003). Preventing drug use among children and adolescents: A research-based guide for parents, educators, and community leaders (2nd ed.). Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2009). Preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among young people: Progress and possibilities. In M. E. O’Connell, T. Boat, & K. E. Warner (Eds.), Committee on the prevention of mental disorders and substance abuse among children, youth, and young adults: Research advances and promising interventions. Board on children, youth, and families: Division of behavioral and social sciences and education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, C. L. (1999). Creating health behavior change: How to develop community-wide programs for youth. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing traditional boundaries of therapy. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabin, B. A., Brownson, R. C., Haire-Joshu, D., Kreuter, M. W., & Weaver, N. L. (2008). A glossary for dissemination and implementation research in health. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 14(2), 117–123.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Resnikow, K., Baranowski, T., Ahluwalia, J. S., & Braithwaite, R. L. (1999). Cultural sensitivity in public health: Defined and demystified. Ethnicity and Disease, 9, 10–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbach, L. A., D’Onofrio, C. N., Backer, T. E., & Montgomery, S. B. (1996). Diffusion of school-based substance abuse prevention programs. American Behavioral Scientist, 39(7), 919–934.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbach, L. A., English, J., Hansen, W. B., & Johnson, C. A. (2000). Development and pilot testing of Project SMART. In S. Sussman (Ed.), Handbook of program development for health behavior research and practice (pp. 425–446). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbach, L. A., Grana, R., Sussman, S., & Valente, T. W. (2006). Type 2 translation: Transporting prevention interventions from research to real-world settings. Evaluation and the Health Professions, 29, 302–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rohrbach, L. A., Howard-Pitney, B., Unger, J. B., Dent, C. W., Howard, K. A., Cruz, T. B., et al. (2002). Independent evaluation of the California Tobacco Control Program: Relationship between program exposure and outcomes, 1996–1998. American Journal of Public Health, 92(6), 975–984.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenfeld, P. L. (2002). The potential of transdisciplinary research for sustaining and extending linkages between the health and social sciences. Social Science and Medicine, 35(11), 1343–1357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sallis, J. F., Owen, N., & Fisher, E. B. (2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Health behavior and health education (4th ed., pp. 462–484). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scher, L. S., Maynard, R. A., & Stagner, M. (2006). Interventions intended to reduce pregnancy-related outcomes among adolescents. Campbell Collaboration Systematic Reviews, 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spoth, R. S., Rohrbach, L. A., Greenberg, M., Robertson, E., Leaf, P., Brown, C. H., et al. (2013). Addressing core challenges for the next generation of type 2 translation research and systems: The Translation Science to Population Impact (TSci2PI) Framework. Prevention Science, 14, 319–351.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strecher, V. J., Bishop, K. R., Bernhardt, J., Thorp, J. M., Cheuvront, B., & Potts, P. (2000). Quit for keeps: Tailored smoking cessation guides for pregnancy and beyond. Tobacco Control, 9(Suppl 3), III78–III79.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2007, 2010). National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. Retrieved from http://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov

  • Sussman, S. (1991). Curriculum development in school-based prevention research. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice, 6, 339–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, S. (1996). Development of a school-based drug abuse prevention curriculum for high-risk youths. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 28(2), 169–182.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, S., Dent, C. W., Mestel-Rauch, J., Johnson, C. A., Hansen, W. B., & Flay, B. R. (1988). Adolescent nonsmokers, triers, and regular smokers’ estimates of cigarette smoking prevalence: When do overestimations occur and by whom? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18(7), 537–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, S., Dent, C. W., & Stacy, A. (2002). Project towards no drug abuse: A review of the findings and future directions. America Journal of Health Behavior, 26, 354–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, S., & Wills, T. A. (2001). Rationale for program development methods. In S. Sussman (Ed.), Handbook of program development for health behavior research and practice (pp. 3–30). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Tobler, N. S. (1986). Meta-analysis of 143 adolescent drug prevention programs: Quantitative outcomes results of program participants compared to a control or comparison group. Journal of Drug Issues, 15, 535–567.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witte, K. (1995). Fishing for success: Using the persuasive health message framework to generate effective campaign messages. In E. Maibach & R. L. Parrott (Eds.), Designing health messages: Approaches from communication theory and public health practice (pp. 145–166). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfson, S. (2000). Students’ estimates of the prevalence of drug use: Evidence for a false consensus effect. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 14(3), 295–298.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Worden, J. K., Flynn, B. S., Geller, B. M., Chen, M., Shelton, L. G., Secker-Walker, R. H., et al. (1988). Development of a smoking prevention mass media program using diagnostic and formative research. Preventive Medicine, 17, 531–558.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, 2001 N. Soto St., Room 302 K, Los Angeles, CA, 90032, USA

    Louise A. Rohrbach

Authors
  1. Louise A. Rohrbach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louise A. Rohrbach .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario, Ohio, USA

    Zili Sloboda

  2. JBS International, Inc., Rockville, USA

    Hanno Petras

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rohrbach, L.A. (2014). Design of Prevention Interventions. In: Sloboda, Z., Petras, H. (eds) Defining Prevention Science. Advances in Prevention Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7424-2_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7424-2_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7423-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-7424-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation