Developing Independence and Responsibility Manual : A Training for Youth. Rev. Edition.

Designed for trainers, this manual presents the Developing Independence and Responsibility youth training component of the Creating Lasting Family Connections Curriculum, a curriculum for promoting the healthy development of youth at risk for alcohol and other drug abuse. After providing information on the Council on Prevention and Education: Substances, Inc. (COPES) and research findings on the effectiveness of the Creating Lasting Connections project, the manual outlines the individual training components that make up the Creating Lasting Family Connections prevention program model and provides an overview of the Developing Independence and Responsibility training. Necessary trainer characteristics are described, as well as strategies for conducting the training. Outlines are then provided for each of the five 1 to 1-1/2 hour training sessions. The sessions encourage youth to: recognize their thoughts and feelings and understanding their personal level of responsibility in their family life; improve their communication skills and understand healthy family interactions and strategies for improving family life; learn how to give feedback to someone else about their behavior and recognize the importance of feedback and self-disclosure for increasing closeness in a relationship; effectively respond to others in a way that encourages expression of feelings, develop effective expectations for their behavior and the behavior of others, develop effective consequences for their behavior and the behavior of others, and developing higher expectations for their behavior; and visualize the expectations and behavioral consequences they will have for their own future children. The manual closes with school-based implementation information.