Volume 3, Number 3
1996
Indiana University - The Center for Adolescent Studies
Building an Effective Alcohol Prevention Program
A recent report published in the Journal of School Health outlines
elements that make an alcohol or drug prevention program effective. The
researchers spent nearly five years collecting data, interviewing experts
and looking at actual programs being used in the schools. Their findings
reveal that traditional drug prevention programs which only inform
students about drugs and alcohol are ineffective. However, through careful
evaluation researchers
have identified characteristics of prevention programs that can produce
lasting and meaningful reductions in drug and alcohol use/abuse.
Here are the 10 critical components of a good drug and alcohol prevention
program:
- Research based, theory driven. Of special importance are
the theories about why people become addicted and the research on risk
factors.
- Effective programs offer developmentally appropriate
information. Teens tend to be more interested in the "here and now"
than in potential future effects of drug use. Information about short-term
negative social consequences of use should be a primary ingredient in any
program.
- The most effective programs teach social resistance skills. (How
to say "No.") Especially at the junior high level, these programs offer
teens ways to learn to resist peer pressure. (See
Learning to Say No in this issue.)
- Normative education. Teach teens that most people do
not use drugs and alcohol. (See Most People
Don't Use Drugs in this issue.)
- Personal and social skills training. Teens need to learn
problem- solving skills as well as goal-setting, stress management, and
communication skills. Building these skills actually leads to reductions in
drug and alcohol use among teens.
(See Problem Solving Skills Builder
in Teacher Talk 3(2).)
- Interactive teaching techniques. Programs that teach through
role-playing, discussion, and small group activities are more successful
than traditional lecture-based ones. (See Feeling Peer Pressure in this issue.)
- Teacher training and support. The major emphasis of this
training should be on using interactive teaching strategies in addition to
covering the facts about drugs and alcohol.
- In-depth interventions and "booster sessions." A one-shot
program has little likelihood of success.
- Culturally sensitive. The heterogenous nature of American
schools makes this an interesting challenge. One way to deal with this
issue is to provide customizable materials to teachers and let them make
the experience appropriate to the students.
- Outreach. To be totally successful, prevention programs need
to reach out into the community and into the homes of the students.
For more information about these components, please refer to "Eleven
Components of Effective Drug Abuse Prevention Curricula" by Linda
Dusenberry and Mathea Falco. It is in the Journal of School Health
Vol. 65, No. 10. (December 1995)
This document was last updated 8/13/97 by Chandra Hawley.
Copyright 1996 Indiana University -
Center for Adolescent Studies, all rights reserved.
Kris Bosworth - Director