Substance abuse, especially among adolescents, has long been an important issue in society. In light of the adverse impact of substance abuse, scholars, educators, and policy-makers have proposed different approaches to prevent and reduce such abuse. This paper investigates the effectiveness of the two prominent approaches--educational and…

This study assessed the outcomes of adapting the culturally-grounded, middle school, substance-use prevention intervention, "keepin' it REAL" ("kiR"), to target elementary school students and to address acculturation. At the beginning of 5th grade, 29 schools were randomly assigned to conditions obtained by crossing grade of implementation (5th,…

The social norms approach to health promotion has become remarkably popular in the last 20 years, particularly in the American college system. It is an alternative to traditional fear-based approaches of health education, which a growing body of research demonstrates is often ineffective in reducing alcohol and drug misuse. The social norms…

We present the short-term results of a quasi-experimental evaluation of the revised D. A. R. E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) curriculum. Study outcomes examined were D. A. R. E.'s effects on three substances, namely students' lifetime and 30-day use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, as well as their school attendance and academic…

The purpose of this study was to investigate if a school-based education and counseling program (Life Skills Training Program) would have an impact on school-aged children/adolescents' views of substance abuse. The study also investigated the degree and direction of change. Participants were 338 elementary or middle-school students in the metro…

A variety of approaches for addressing drug use and drug-related crime among the nearly 5 million offenders on community supervision in the United States has been tried and evaluated, but questions remain about which policies or programs are most effective. The authors use a large data set to assess the impact of residential and nonresidential…

This article reports analyses of recidivism and relapse experiences of substance-abusing women inmates as they reenter the community. Outcomes are compared for women who completed a work-release therapeutic community program, women who entered but did not complete the program, and those who did not receive work-release therapeutic community…

Although tobacco use is reported by the majority of substance use disordered (SUD) youth, little work has examined tobacco focused interventions with this population. The present study is an initial investigation of the effect of a tobacco use intervention on adolescent SUD treatment outcomes. Participants were adolescents in SUD treatment taking…

In an effort to promote evidence-based practice, government officials, researchers, and program developers have developed lists of model programs in the prevention field. This article reviews the evidence used by seven best-practice lists to select five model prevention programs. The authors' examination of this research raises questions about the…

This study assessed the immediate and short-term outcomes of adapting a culturally-grounded middle school program, "keepin' it REAL", for elementary school students. After curriculum adaptation, 10 schools were randomly assigned to the intervention in 5th grade with follow-up boosters in 6th grade; 13 schools were randomly assigned to the control…

To examine the effectiveness of vocational education and training qualifications as a workforce development strategy in the community services and health industries, a case study was undertaken of the alcohol and other drug sector. The project comprised of two parts: (1) An online survey to gain an understanding of employer's perceptions of and…

The Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia has identified attracting and recruiting staff as a problem area for the sector. An obvious strategy is to recruit people from a broad range of backgrounds, and then provide specific industry training. The vocational education and training (VET) sector is well placed to provide this training. The…

Evaluation research pertaining to the development of assessment instruments that fully capture the facets of empowerment prevention perspectives among youth are sparse. With funding from the American Legacy Foundation, the University of New Mexico Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, in partnership with the New Mexico State…

The authors describe a study of families in the Family Drug Treatment Court (FTDC), an effort to promote permanent placement for substance-exposed infants within time requirements mandated by the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The purpose of the study was to evaluate parent functioning after FTDC involvement, infant developmental…

Ten years after publication of the UK Government's strategy for drug misuse in 1995, Tackling Drugs Together, the impact of drug education and prevention programmes remains less than desired. The 1995 strategy envisaged a new emphasis on education and prevention and there have been developments since then in drug education, especially with…