Stephanie Gonthier

Session Description: Prevention professionals are tasked with influencing health behaviors before patterns of substance use become entrenched. But they often lack a clear, evidence-based roadmap for how to identify what truly drives or deters those behaviors. That's why we've adopted and refined a qualitative and quantitative research approach to systematically uncover the real factors influencing behavior. Our Barrier Analysis is grounded in Theory of Reasoned Action and the Health Belief Model, and offers an effective way to uncover the behavioral determinants that shape decision-making.This session will demonstrate how Barrier Analysis can be applied as a prevention tool to distinguish between perceived and actual drivers of behavior, enabling more effective early interventions. We will present a case study of our partnership with a government agency working to reduce youth vaping and nicotine use by targeting the upstream misperceptions and reinforcing beliefs that influence exploration and increase risk of long-term dependence. Using Barrier Analysis, we segmented youth into three groups: those who've quit vaping/nicotine, (doers), those attempting or considering quitting (partial-doers), and those not interested in quitting (non-doers). Findings uncovered a critical prevention opportunity: many youth perceived vaping as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety, without recognizing that it exacerbates these conditions. By identifying and addressing this misperception early, prevention messaging can intervene before initiation and escalation.