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Latest Edition of Media Ready Spanish Incorporates New Substance Abuse Prevention Content

2023-03-16T18:38:20+00:00

March 16, 2023, Durham, NC – The fourth and newest edition of iRT’s evidence-based, instructor-led media literacy and substance abuse prevention program for middle school students, Media Ready Spanish, has been released. Media Ready Spanish provides youth with skills to critically analyze media content that contains harmful messages about alcohol, drugs, tobacco products, and vapes. The Spanish version of the program continues to use Latin American Spanish in the translations to provide teachers with the opportunity to present all instructional materials to their students in their native language. Through Media Ready’s series of 10 fully scripted, highly interactive lessons, students practice [...]

Latest Edition of Media Ready Spanish Incorporates New Substance Abuse Prevention Content2023-03-16T18:38:20+00:00

Journal of Health Communication Publishes iRT’s New Research on Media Aware Parent

2023-02-23T20:45:18+00:00

January 31, 2023, Durham, NC – Media Aware Parent, one of iRT’s self-paced, online prevention programs, is designed to equip parents of teens with the skills they need to engage in high-quality conversations with their children about sexual and relationship health, teach their children to think critically about media messages, and create effective family rules around media use. A previous paper published by Dr. Tracy Scull and her colleagues at iRT reported on the impact of the program after access to it for one month. At that point in time, the Media Aware Parent program improved parents-adolescent communication, and parents and [...]

Journal of Health Communication Publishes iRT’s New Research on Media Aware Parent2023-02-23T20:45:18+00:00

iRT Collaborates on a Cultural Adaptation of a Parent-Child Communication Program

2022-12-30T19:24:52+00:00

December 30, 2022, Durham, NC – Literature suggests that Latino parents, like other communities, lack confidence in their knowledge and ability to discuss sex and relationships with their kids. However, few resources are available to guide parents in communicating with their teenagers about sexual health, especially in a culturally relevant format. iRT’s self-paced, interactive online program, Media Aware Parent, is designed to help parents navigate conversations with their teenagers about sex, relationships, and media. Dr. Tracy Scull, Senior Research Scientist for iRT, and Dr. Mercedes M. Morales-Alemán, Assistant Professor for The University of Alabama, aim to adapt Media Aware Parent to [...]

iRT Collaborates on a Cultural Adaptation of a Parent-Child Communication Program2022-12-30T19:24:52+00:00

iRT Enhances Media Literacy Education and Substance Abuse Prevention Program for Children

2022-12-30T19:01:41+00:00

December 30, 2022, Durham, NC – iRT is pleased to announce the third and newest edition of Media Detective Spanish, a media literacy, alcohol, tobacco, and vaping abuse prevention program designed for elementary school students. The Media Detective program consists of instructor-led, interactive classroom activities and hands-on practice opportunities to help students apply critical thinking skills to analyzing the media messages they consume. The Spanish version of Media Detective provides all curriculum content in Spanish to allow teachers to present program content in the language that students are most comfortable with. Media Detective Spanish’s updated edition has expanded upon past editions [...]

iRT Enhances Media Literacy Education and Substance Abuse Prevention Program for Children2022-12-30T19:01:41+00:00

iRT Receives Grant for Development of a Parent Training Program to Improve Tween Health

2022-12-14T20:25:31+00:00

November 30, 2022, Durham, NC – innovation Research & Training (iRT) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to develop and evaluate a self-paced, interactive online program designed to educate parents about tween development and help them have high-quality conversations with their tweens about puberty, body-image, relationships, sexuality, and media use. Preadolescence is an integral time in development for children to form lifelong beliefs about appearance, gender roles, relationships, and sex. Children are more susceptible to eating disorders, dating violence perpetration, aggressive behavior, and decreased self-confidence [...]

iRT Receives Grant for Development of a Parent Training Program to Improve Tween Health2022-12-14T20:25:31+00:00

iRT Awarded Grant for Development of a Parent-Focused Media Literacy Education Program for Adolescent Substance Use Prevention

2023-01-11T19:44:17+00:00

September 2021, Durham, NC - innovation Research & Training (iRT) is honored to share that it has received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop and evaluate the Media World Parent program. iRT Senior Research Scientist, Dr. Tracy Scull, is the Principal Investigator for the project. She is joined by Co-Investigators, Dr. Christina Dodson and Dr. Katie Stump. The team will create an evidence-based program to help parents effectively communicate with their middle school-aged children about substance use and media. Media World Parent will build upon several of their previously funded projects, including the classroom curriculum, [...]

iRT Awarded Grant for Development of a Parent-Focused Media Literacy Education Program for Adolescent Substance Use Prevention2023-01-11T19:44:17+00:00

New Study from iRT Finds Web-Based Media Literacy Program an Effective Vehicle for High School Sex Ed

2023-01-11T19:38:12+00:00

May 14, 2021, Durham, NC - Web-based media literacy education was found to be an effective way to promote sexual health and critical media analysis in high school students, according to a new randomized controlled trial published in the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives. The findings were reported by innovation Research & Training (iRT), a behavioral sciences research company. Decades of research have shown that school-based, comprehensive sex education is an effective way to improve adolescent sexual health. However, yesterday’s programs don’t necessarily work today; with the pervasiveness of smartphones and online social networks, adolescents’ constant access to media means [...]

New Study from iRT Finds Web-Based Media Literacy Program an Effective Vehicle for High School Sex Ed2023-01-11T19:38:12+00:00

Dr. Scull Appointed to Center for Scientific Review Study Section

2021-05-03T13:25:07+00:00

Durham, NC, May 2, 2021 – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review (CSR) has selected Dr. Tracy Scull, Senior Research Scientist at innovation Research & Training, for her demonstrated achievement and competence to serve as a member of the Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention (PDRP) Study Section for a four-year term, beginning this July. The CSR is responsible for organizing the peer review groups and study sections that evaluate most of the research grant applications sent to NIH. It works to execute fair, independent, expert, and timely scientific reviews for NIH grant applications. “I am honored to [...]

Dr. Scull Appointed to Center for Scientific Review Study Section2021-05-03T13:25:07+00:00

iRT’s Prevention Central Team Publishes Chapter on Sexual Socialization in the International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy

2023-01-11T21:13:05+00:00

Media literacy education (MLE) is one of the primary strategies used by Prevention Central research teams at iRT to develop innovative, evidence-based programs. Prevention Central scientists are on the forefront of  researching the influence of media on adolescents’ sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and have found that MLE is an effective way to promote adolescent sexual health.

iRT’s Prevention Central Team Publishes Chapter on Sexual Socialization in the International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy2023-01-11T21:13:05+00:00

iRT Scientist Contributes to Chapter on Media Literacy and Smoking in the International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy

2023-01-11T21:11:50+00:00

For more than a decade, scientists at iRT have conducted groundbreaking research on the impact of media literacy education for substance abuse prevention. Recently, Dr. Janis Kupersmidt, an expert on this topic, co-authored a chapter entitled “Media Literacy and Smoking” in the newly-published International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy. The encyclopedia – which is available...

iRT Scientist Contributes to Chapter on Media Literacy and Smoking in the International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy2023-01-11T21:11:50+00:00
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