FOCUS AREAS
iRT is committed to preventing substance use, misuse, and abuse through the development of evidence-based programs and services
Decades of efforts to prevent substance use and abuse have successfully reduced rates of substance use by children and teens for most substances. However, the modern era presents new challenges; smoking rates may have gone down, but vaping is more popular with adolescents than ever. The U.S. also faces a nationwide opioid crisis, and underage drinking is an ever-present threat to youth. Taken together, more than 23 million Americans suffer from substance use disorders.
Not only is substance use prevalent, it also takes a toll on the economic, educational, physical, and mental health of youth and their families. Despite increased funding to support both environmental and individual prevention strategies, this public health problem cannot be solved without innovative and evidence-based solutions.
We approach substance abuse prevention by developing mobile tools for screening for risk for adolescent substance abuse.
iRT is also dedicated to conducting basic research studies to further our understanding of the etiology of substance abuse and develop assessment tools to screen children at risk for early onset of alcohol use. iRT believes that youth need repeated exposure to a diverse set of tools and strategies to prevent their use and misuse of substance. Thus, we conduct research on both environmental and individual strategies that can be used by schools, families, organizations, and communities. Our work addresses substance abuse prevention through five complementary approaches including: drugged driving education, media literacy education, mindfulness education, social-emotional learning interventions, and mentoring.
Dr. Tracy Scull conducts basic and applied research on media literacy and media literacy education to prevent substance abuse.
Dr. Alison Parker conducts research in the areas of mindfulness education and social-emotional learning as strategies for preventing substance abuse. She also conducts research on the use of mobile apps for screening for risk for adolescent substance abuse.
Dr. Janis Kupersmidt conducts research on prevention of drugged driving and promotion of safe driving. In addition, she conducts research on mindfulness education, media literacy education, mentoring. and social-emotional learning, as strategies for preventing substance abuse. She also conducts research on the use of mobile apps for screening for risk for adolescent substance abuse.
Dr. Katie Stump conducts research on mentoring and social-emotional learning as strategies for preventing substance abuse.
Dr. Rebecca Stelter conducts research on prevention of drugged driving and promotion of safe driving. In addition, she conducts research on mentoring and social-emotional learning as strategies for preventing substance abuse.
Dr. Allison Schmidt conducts research on prevention of drugged driving and promotion of safe driving.