SDRG Projects
Research projects at SDRG seek to harness prevention science to improve lives among diverse populations. We do this by conducting research in multiple, coordinated areas, including:
- Seeking to understand the underlying causes of behavior, health, and social problems
- Developing and testing interventions designed to prevent behavior, health, and social problems
- Understanding how to take effective interventions out of the research setting and into the real world
- Studying service systems and working to improve them
Current Projects
A Trial of Connecting to Prevent Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors in Foster Teens (2015)
This study continues work we’ve been doing under a developmental research grant and pilot study of Connecting, a self-directed, family-focused, substance abuse and risky sexual behavior prevention program for foster teens and their caregivers. The new study will be conducting a randomized controlled trial of the program with foster families and teens in Washington State....
Pilot Implementation of the Communities That Care Prevention System in Chile (2014)
This project consists of an international collaboration to adapt and implement the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system in three low-income communities in Chile. It includes research teams from the U.S. (including the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington, the Division of Prevention Science and Community Health at the University of Miami,...
CYDS: Long-term Effects of CTC on Young Adults From Small Towns (2013)
In 2013, SDRG was awarded continuation funding to study the long-term effects of Communities That Care (CTC) 11 and 13 years following its initial installation during the randomized trial (CYDS). This continuation study assesses CTC’s effects on drug use, delinquency, violence, sexual risk behavior, and other health-risking behaviors during young adulthood (ages 21 and 23)...
Evidence2Success (2009)
This collaboration with the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Dartington Social Research Unit in Devon, UK, will ultimately create a collaboration to develop a comprehensive systems and community change model to promote the positive development of children and families in disadvantaged urban communities. System and community change will be accomplished through assessment of system,...
Community Youth Development Study (CYDS) (2003)
The Community Youth Development Study began in 2003. It is a community-randomized trial of the effectiveness of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system. CTC is designed to help communities promote healthy youth development and reduce levels of youth drug use, violence, delinquency, teenage pregnancy, and school dropout. CTC is a science-based, operating system for...
International Youth Development Study (IYDS) (2000)
Overview: This collaborative international project between the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington, the Center for Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne, and Deakin University investigates the impact of individual differences, policy, and context on alcohol and other drug use and related problem behaviors from adolescence into adulthood. The IYDS began...
SSDP-TIP – The Intergenerational Project (2000)
The Seattle Social Development Project – The Intergenerational Project (SSDP-TIP) is an ongoing longitudinal study, started in 2000, of the children of the members of the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) panel. SSDP-TIP is a theory-driven study, based on the Social Development Model, that examines the effects and mechanisms of action of parental and grandparental...
Raising Healthy Children Through Communities That Care (1998)
This project is developing a book that will weave together stories and science to tell what we know about the development of aggression and violence, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy, and how families, schools, and communities can prevent these problems and promote healthy development. This book will describe what community leaders can do to reinvent...
Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP) (1981)
SSDP began in 1981 to test strategies for reducing childhood risk factors for school failure, drug abuse, and delinquency. First graders in five Seattle schools were assigned to intervention or control classrooms. Each year through the elementary grades parents and teachers in intervention classrooms learned how to actively engage children in learning, strengthen bonding to...