A Short- and Long-Term Evaluation of Here's Looking at You Alcohol Education Program

This study reports short- and long-term outcome evaluation results of an alcohol education prevention program entitled “Here's Looking at You (HLAY)” as implemented by one of the largest school districts in the nation during 1982–1987. Since the adoption of this program as a demonstration project by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the program has become one of the most widely known alcohol education or prevention programs in the nation. In 1982, the program was adopted by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and has been under continuous replication. On the basis of the most recent replication of the HLAY during the spring semester 1987 and on the basis of the CMS system-wide student drug survey in 1986, the program has been evaluated using the following criterion variables: knowledge gain; three subdimensions on the general attitude about alcohol, i.e., undifferentiated-primitive attitude, reward-associated attitude, and health-related attitude; intentions about future alcohol use; and the actual drinking behavior.

On a short-term basis, 1) there has been a knowledge gain about alcohol and alcoholism on the part of the HLAY recipients between the pre and post tests of the Alcohol Education Evaluation Instrument (AEEI). However, this gain in the HLAY group was less than the knowledge gain observed among control group student; 2) in comparison to the students in the control group, there has been a positive attitudinal net gain among the HLAY recipients along the undifferentiated-primitive attitude about alcohol; 3) however, the HLAY was not able to impact upon the reward-associated attitude, health-related attitude, the intentions about future alcohol use, and the actual drinking behavior. On a long-term basis, the actual alcohol drinking pattern of the HLAY recipients was indistinguishable from those students who had not been exposed to the program.