Journal of Drug Education: Substance Use Research and Prevention

This article investigates self-reported interventions by students in the alcohol, tobacco, illicit drug use, and drinking-driving of their friends. The data came from a study of 1184 students in Ontario schools in grades 7, 9, 11, and 13. We found that about a third of students intervened in friends' illegal drug use and drinking-driving but about half intervened about smoking. Students who intervened were more likely to be older and spend fewer nights at home. They were less likely to use cannabis, but had more friends using cannabis and illegal drugs. Also, they had more exposure to drug education and were more disapproving of drug use. Drug education may give students the knowledge and confidence to intervene in friends' drug use.

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the impact that a Drug Education course has on motives, consequences, attitudes, and perceptions regarding alcohol use in a sample of university students, and to discern if these parameters alter substance usage. There were a total of 121 respondents (32 male, 94 female). Following the course, students reported a slight elevation in the motivation to drink alcohol to facilitate studying. However, drinking because they enjoyed the taste, drinking to get drunk, and drinking to celebrate special occasions decreased significantly following the course. No significant differences were noted in patterns of drinking consequences or selected attitudes toward alcohol use. Students did, however, perceive alcohol to be a more dangerous substance in the post-test. No gender differences were observed.

Data were collected on the drinking behavior of 415 pregnant adolescents from 1990 to 1994. The relationships between knowledge and attitudes about drinking and drinking behavior were examined. Knowledge about drinking was not related to average daily volume of alcohol before or during pregnancy. Those with specific knowledge about fetal alcohol effects drank less before pregnancy, and in the first trimester, and were also less likely to drink to intoxication. Among drinkers, general knowledge about drinking was significantly related to a decrease in drinking between pre-pregnancy and first trimester, as well as between first and third trimesters. Those with more intolerant attitudes about drinking drank less before and during pregnancy. They had fewer episodes of binge drinking, intoxication, negative consequences, and problem drinking during pregnancy. They were more likely to decrease drinking from the first to third trimesters. These relationships are relevant to developing effective education programs for the high-risk group of pregnant teenagers who drink.

The training of inservice school personnel in the prevention of tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use among youth is the focus of this article. The training emphasizes an interdisciplinary, youth development, school team training model, entitled “Enhancing Student Well-Being.” The model includes both content and process components. The manuscript describes the model, evaluation procedures, and training issues. Particular attention is given to follow-up assessment and outcome of school-based prevention projects developed during the training and implemented during the school year. Results support the training model as having a positive impact on prevention initiatives in schools.

This study examines the perceptions of educators about the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, based on the results of a statewide survey among 286 fifth and sixth grade teachers and principals. Educators gave their highest ratings to teacher/officer interaction, the role playing exercises, and the graduation ceremony. Ratings of overall program quality and the impact of the program on students were both high. Block regression analysis was used to examine factors predictive of educators' views of D.A.R.E. D.A.R.E. program elements were the most important factors explaining variance in educators' ratings of over-all program quality and program impact on students. Altogether, 54 percent and 38 percent of the variance in both dependent variables were explained. The results are discussed in terms of the important role teachers and principals play as stakeholders in prevention education.

This study provides some evidence, although not very strong, that self-esteem is associated with the likelihood of smoking among African-American children. In a sample of 1,256 children, those with lowest levels of self-esteem were twice as likely to have ever smoked as those with highest level of self-esteem (95% C.I. = 1.10–7.78). Girls, more so than boys, have an increased risk of smoking at the lowest level of self-esteem. Girls with the lowest level of self-esteem were 2.8 times (95% C.I. = 3.85–16.59) as likely to have smoked when compared to girls with higher self-esteem. The findings suggest preventive interventions that seek to build self-esteem may reduce the likelihood of smoking among girls, although perhaps only modestly. Further study is needed to identify potentially effective methods for reducing the likelihood of smoking among African-American boys.

Despite drug education and prevention efforts, adolescent substance use is on the rise in the United States. In an exploration of correlates of substance use and components of effective drug education, three dimensions of religiosity—religious proscriptiveness, involvement in church activities, and the importance an individual places on church activities—emerge. Each has previously demonstrated an inverse relationship with adolescent substance use. In the present study, interactions among these three dimensions were evaluated in 238 adolescents. Religious proscriptiveness interacted with church involvement and with church importance in relation to adolescent use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other drugs. Additionally, among adolescents who had ever used alcohol, a positive relationship was observed between religious proscriptiveness and binge drinking such that the highest incidence of binge drinking was reported by those affiliated with prescriptive religious groups. The church may be an important vehicle for drug education. Implications for drug education are discussed, and further research is suggested.

A psychoeducational model of intervention is proposed for use with drug abusing clients. This model may be particularly helpful during the early stages of intervention in reducing resistance to change because it addresses the eight thinking styles (mollification, cutoff, entitlement, power orientation, sentimentality, superoptimism, cognitive indolence, discontinuity) believed to shield the drug “lifestyle” from forces that would otherwise bring about change. Practical suggestions are offered as to how this information might be shared with clients.