%0 Journal Article %J Prev Sci %D 2014 %T Research priorities for economic analyses of prevention: Current issues and future directions. %A Crowley, D M %A Hill, L G %A Kuklinski, Margaret R %A Jones, Damon E %K Biomedical Research %K Congresses as Topic %K Cost-Benefit Analysis %K Forecasting %K Humans %K Preventive Medicine %X
In response to growing interest in economic analyses of prevention efforts, a diverse group of prevention researchers, economists, and policy analysts convened a scientific panel, on "Research Priorities in Economic Analysis of Prevention" at the 19th annual conference of the Society for Prevention Research. The panel articulated four priorities that, if followed in future research, would make economic analyses of prevention efforts easier to compare and more relevant to policymakers and community stakeholders. These priorities are: (1) increased standardization of evaluation methods, (2) improved economic valuation of common prevention outcomes, (3) expanded efforts to maximize evaluation generalizability and impact as well as (4) enhanced transparency and communicability of economic evaluations. In this paper, we define three types of economic analyses in prevention, provide context and rationale for these four priorities as well as related sub-priorities, and discuss the challenges inherent in meeting them.
%B Prev Sci %V 15 %P 789-98 %8 2014 Dec %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1007/s11121-013-0429-z %0 Journal Article %J Am J Community Psychol %D 2013 %T How has the economic downturn affected communities and implementation of science-based prevention in the randomized trial of Communities That Care? %A Kuklinski, Margaret R %A Hawkins, J D %A Plotnick, Robert D %A Abbott, Robert D %A Reid, Carolina K %K Community Networks %K Economic Recession %K Female %K Humans %K Juvenile Delinquency %K Male %K Reproducibility of Results %K Surveys and Questionnaires %K United States %XThis study examined implications of the economic downturn that began in December 2007 for the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS), a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system. The downturn had the potential to affect the internal validity of the CYDS research design and implementation of science-based prevention in study communities. We used archival economic indicators and community key leader reports of economic conditions to assess the extent of the economic downturn in CYDS communities and potential internal validity threats. We also examined whether stronger economic downturn effects were associated with a decline in science-based prevention implementation. Economic indicators suggested the downturn affected CYDS communities to different degrees. We found no evidence of systematic differences in downturn effects in CTC compared to control communities that would threaten internal validity of the randomized trial. The Community Economic Problems scale was a reliable measure of community economic conditions, and it showed criterion validity in relation to several objective economic indicators. CTC coalitions continued to implement science-based prevention to a significantly greater degree than control coalitions 2 years after the downturn began. However, CTC implementation levels declined to some extent as unemployment, the percentage of students qualifying for free lunch, and community economic problems worsened. Control coalition implementation levels were not related to economic conditions before or after the downturn, but mean implementation levels of science-based prevention were also relatively low in both periods.
%B Am J Community Psychol %V 51 %P 370-84 %8 2013 Jun %G eng %N 3-4 %R 10.1007/s10464-012-9557-z %0 Journal Article %J Prev Sci %D 2012 %T Cost-benefit analysis of Communities That Care outcomes at eighth grade. %A Kuklinski, Margaret R %A Briney, John S %A Hawkins, J D %A Catalano, Richard F %K Adolescent %K Adolescent Behavior %K Cost-Benefit Analysis %K Female %K Humans %K Juvenile Delinquency %K Male %K Risk Reduction Behavior %K Smoking %XThis paper presents a cost-benefit analysis of the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system, a public health approach to reducing risk, enhancing protection, and reducing the prevalence of adolescent health and behavior problems community wide. The analysis is based on outcomes from a panel of students followed from Grade 5 through Grade 8 in a randomized controlled trial involving 24 communities in 7 states. Previous analyses have shown that CTC prevented the initiation of cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and delinquency by the end of 8th grade in CTC communities compared to controls. This paper estimates long-term monetary benefits associated with significant intervention effects on cigarette smoking and delinquency as compared to the cost of conducting the intervention. Under conservative cost assumptions, the net present benefit is $5,250 per youth, including $812 from the prevention of cigarette smoking and $4,438 from the prevention of delinquency. The benefit-cost ratio indicates a return of $5.30 per $1.00 invested. Under less conservative but still viable cost assumptions, the benefit-cost ratio due to prevention of cigarette smoking and delinquency increases to $10.23 per $1.00 invested. Benefits from CTC's reduction in alcohol initiation as well as broader inclusion of quality-of-life gains would further increase CTC's benefit-cost ratio. Results provide evidence that CTC is a cost-beneficial preventive intervention and a good investment of public dollars, even under very conservative cost and benefit assumptions.
%B Prev Sci %V 13 %P 150-61 %8 2012 Apr %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1007/s11121-011-0259-9