The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has called for the use of evidence-based approaches to address high-risk drinking prevalent on many college campuses. In line with this recommendation, the present study evaluated the efficacy of two evidence-based approaches to reducing alcohol use. One hundred and three college students in…

A unique Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) prevention program called "PALS" (Prevention through Alternative Learning Styles) was implemented with middle school students with the goal of enhancing student knowledge of the harmful effects of ATOD, promoting the use of refusal skills and reducing intentions to use ATOD in the future.…

Sixth graders participating in the "Too Good for Drugs" (TGFD) prevention program in comparison to 6th graders not participating show different results by student risk level. Sixth graders from 20 middle schools were randomly assigned to receive the intervention and those from 20 paired middle schools assigned to serve as controls (N =…

The objective of the present study was to examine the contribution of three intervention components (public commitment, resistance to advertising, and leisure promotion) on alcohol and protective variables in a school-based substance use prevention program. Participants included 480 Spanish students aged from 14 to 16 who received the…

Statistics show that the prevalence of crack cocaine use and embalming fluid and phencyclidine (PCP)-laced cigarettes or marijuana sticks, commonly referred to on the street as "fry" or "wet" is a problem; however, the relationship between these substances of abuse and concurrent polydrug use is unknown. In the present study, a…

Project SUCCESS (PS) is a substance use prevention program that targets indicated high school students. We used archival data to explore the program's effects on students' academic achievement and disciplinary problems. It is essential to demonstrate such effects, if prevention curricula are to survive in schools that face multiple competing…

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…

As part of an international public health partnership formed in 2001 we assessed the impact of Project Northland in Croatia --an adolescent alcohol school-based prevention intervention implemented in Split--on students. The curriculum was implemented in 13 randomly selected schools with another 13 schools serving as controls. The evaluation…

Despite mentoring's rapidly increasing popularity as an intervention for the prevention of teen alcohol and drug abuse and associated problems, there is little research consensus on its overall effectiveness or on the core principles and components that define effective mentoring. To advance knowledge concerning this important prevention…

Compared substance use and problem behavior of students who participated in "I'm Special" Program (ISP) in fourth grade and of non-participants during later school years. Found proportion of current substance users and incidence of related problem behavior were significantly lower among ISP graduates, especially in grades five through seven. ISP…

Surveyed the opinions of (N=3,100) 7th- to 12th-grade students regarding the perceived effectiveness of both pro-smoking and anti-smoking messages. Results indicated that most teenagers were exposed to anti-smoking information and materials in schools. Statistically significant differences existed between smokers and nonsmokers in their…

Sixth graders (N=698) participated in program classroom, receiving 12-session cognitive skills development curriculum aimed at reducing substance use rates. Compared to controls (N=674), Program participants showed greater decision-making skills and reported less use of tobacco, but only one difference between groups was found in use of alcohol,…

The major purpose of this investigation was to assess the effectiveness of the revised edition of the New York State Curriculum Guide with respect to the affective domain dealing with the drug topic. Analysis revealed that the program seemed to be effective for males but not females. (Author)

Conducted 3-year evaluation of Nebraska students (N=130) to gauge long-term influence of initial preventive alcohol education intervention developed around inoculation model. Results suggest that after 3 years, frequency of risky alcohol-related behavior between experimental and control students was not significantly different. Assessment of…

Used meta-analysis to review 33 evaluations of school-based alcohol and drug education programs. Found typical substance abuse education had most positive effects on knowledge and attitudes, but was unsuccessful in changing drug-using behaviors of students. Attitudinal effects were significantly higher when peers were instructional leaders and…