Why evaluate drug education? : task force report.

Mode of access: Internet.

Adolescent protective behaviour to reduce drug and alcohol use, alcohol-related harm and interpersonal violence

Typically adolescents' friends are considered a risk factor for adolescent engagement in risk-taking. This study took a more novel approach, by examining adolescent friendship as a protective factor. In particular it investigated friends' potential to intervene to reduce risk-taking. 540 adolescents (mean age 13.47 years) were asked about their intention to intervene to reduce friends' alcohol, drug and alcohol-related harms and about psychosocial factors potentially associated with intervening. More than half indicated that they would intervene in friends' alcohol, drug use, alcohol-related harms and interpersonal violence. Intervening was associated with being female, having friends engage in overall less risk-taking and having greater school connectedness. The findings provide an important understanding of increasing adolescent protective behavior as a potential strategy to reduce alcohol and drug related harms.

A three year outcome evaluation of a theory based drink driving education program

This study reports on the impact of a "drink driving education program" taught to grade ten high school students. The program which involves twelve lessons uses strategies based on the Ajzen and Madden theory of planned behavior. Students were trained to use alternatives to drink driving and passenger behaviors. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-four students who had been taught the program in randomly assigned control and intervention schools were followed up three years later. There had been a major reduction in drink driving behaviors in both intervention and control students. In addition to this cohort change there was a trend toward reduced drink driving in the intervention group and a significant reduction in passenger behavior in this group. Readiness to use alternatives suggested that the major impact of the program was on students who were experimenting with the behavior at the time the program was taught. The program seems to have optimized concurrent social attitude and behavior change.

Response consistency in young adolescents’ drug use self-reports: a recanting rate analysis.

Aims: To assess the reliability of drug use reports by young respondents, this study examined the extent of recanting previous drug use reports within an ongoing longitudinal survey of adolescent drug use. Here, recanting was defined as a positive report of life-time drug use that was subsequently denied 1 year later. The covariates of recanting were also studied. Design: An ongoing longitudinal survey of young adolescents (Belfast Youth Development Study) in Northern Ireland. Setting: Pencil and paper questionnaires were administered to pupils within participating schools. Measurements: Measures analysed included (a) recanting rates across 13 substances, (b) educational characteristics, (c) offending behaviour and (d) socioeconomic status. Findings: High levels of drug use recanting were identified, ranging from 7% of past alcohol use to 87% of past magic mushroom use. Recanting increased with the social stigma of the substance used. Denying past alcohol use was associated with being male, attending a catholic school, having positive attitudes towards school, having negative education expectations and not reporting any offending behaviour. Recanting alcohol intoxication was associated with being male and not reporting serious offending behaviour. Cannabis recanting was associated with having negative education expectations, receiving drugs education and not reporting serious offending behaviour. Conclusions: The high levels of recanting uncovered cast doubts on the reliability of drug use reports from young adolescents. Failure to address this response error may lead to biased prevalence estimates, particularly within school surveys and drug education evaluation trials.

Methods for integrating alcohol education into existing curriculum. Volume II. Part 7. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Alcohol Countermeasures, Washington, D.C.

Youth alcohol safety education criteria development. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Youth alcohol education material dissemination and promotion. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Driver and Pedestrian Programs, Washington, D.C.

Comparison of recovered alcoholic and non-alcoholic communicator in alcohol education. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Good choices, great future : an applied theatre prevention program to reduce alcohol-related risky behaviours during Schoolies

Introduction and Aims. The contextual and temporal factors of post-school celebratory events ('Schoolies') place young people at elevated risk of excessive drinking compared with other social occasions. This study investigates the impact of an applied theatre prevention program 'Choices' in reducing the risk of drinking and other risk behaviours during Schoolies celebrations. Design and Methods. Choices was delivered in the last term of Year 12 across 28 North Queensland schools. A total of 352 school leavers (43.1% male, mean age=17.14years) completed a questionnaire at Whitsunday Schoolies, Queensland, Australia on 23-24 November 2010. Nearly 49% of respondents had attended Choices. The survey included measures of alcohol use, illicit drug use and associated problems during Schoolies and a month prior to Schoolies. Results. After controlling for gender and pre-Schoolies drinking, school leavers who attended Choices were significantly less likely to report illicit drug use (OR=0.51, P<0.05) and problem behaviours (OR=0.40, P<0.01) than those who did not attend Choices. There was, however, no intervention effect in risky drinking (i.e. drank on 5 or more days, typical amount five or more standard drink and binge drank on 3 or more days) at Schoolies (OR=0.92, P=0.80). Discussion and Conclusions. Delivery of a youth-specific applied theatre prevention program employing a harm minimisation framework may be effective in reducing high-risk behaviours associated with alcohol consumption at celebratory events, even if young people expect to engage in excessive alcohol consumption. [Quek L-H, White A, Low C, Brown J, Dalton N, Dow D, Connor JP. Good choices, great future: An applied theatre prevention program to reduce alcohol-related risky behaviours during Schoolies. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:897–902]

Styrning och ideologiska dilemman i Skolverkets skolutveckling : exemplet ANDT-undervisning

Governing and ideological dilemmas in drug education Drug education (ANT) in Swedish schools has a history over decades. Here, the pedagogical approaches fluctuated between transfer of solid knowledge from the teacher to the pupil, and working with values and have a more pupil-driven teaching – a classic dichotomy. Rhetoric about the school’s way of teaching has thus always been ambivalent and subject to reexamination. The study analyses various textual material on ANT education. As a methodological tool Billigs concept Ideological dilemmas is used, which is a fruitful way to identify the rhetorical building blocks of (school) politics, but also to analyse political talk in more detail. The article analyses the ideological dilemmas under three dichotomies: Knowledge vs. values, teacher control vs. learner control, and prevention vs. promotion. Throughout we can see this question of how teaching could be successful, given the tension between authority and democracy. The article concludes by relating this basic ideological dilemma in a wider discursive context of governance in our time. 

Prevalence and trends of substance abuse in Harris County, Texas, 1989 to 1991

In the late 1980s, Harris County, Texas began experiencing an escalation of drug-related activities. Various indicators used in this analysis tracked drug-related trends from 1989 to 1991 to determine patterns for comparison of local (Houston/Harris County, Texas) to national levels.^ An important indicator of the drug scenario was drug-related activities among youths, which increased during the period of this study. The Harris County Juvenile Probation Department showed that among arrests for drug-related activities, felonies increased from 25% in 1988 to 53% in 1991. With the rise in drug-related crimes, and substance abuse among the student body, school districts were forced to institute drug education programs in an effort to curtail such activities.^ Law enforcement agencies in the county saw increased demands for their services as a result of drug activities. Harris County Sheriffs Department reported a 32% plus increase in drug-related charges between 1986 and 1991. Houston Police Department reported an increase of 109% for the same period.^ Data from the Harris County Medical Examiner, the National Institute of Justice's Drug Use Forecasting System (Houston), and drug treatment facilities around Houston/Harris County, Texas indicated similar drug usage trends. Over a four-year period (1988-91), the drugs most frequently detected during blood and urine analyses were cocaine, followed by marijuana, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamines.^ From 1988 to 1991, most drug rehabilitation organizations experienced increased demands for their services by approximately 35%. Several other organizations experienced as much as a 70 percent increase. Males accounted for roughly 70% and females about 30% of persons seeking treatment. However, the number of females pursuing treatment increased, thereby reducing the gender gap.^ Blacks in Houston/Harris County were at higher risk for drug usage among the general population, but sought treatment more readily than other ethnic groups. Whites sought treatment in similar numbers as Blacks, but overall the risk appeared smaller because they made up a larger portion of the Houston/Harris County population.^ This analysis concluded that drug trends for the Houston/Harris County, Texas did not follow national trends, but showed patterns of its own. It was recommended that other communities carry out similar studies to determine drug use trends particular to their local. ^

Predictive Models of Alcohol Use Based on Attitudes and Individual Values

Two predictive models are developed in this article: the first is designed to predict people's attitudes to alcoholic drinks, while the second sets out to predict the use of alcohol in relation to selected individual values. University students (N = 1,500) were recruited through stratified sampling based on sex and academic discipline. The questionnaire used obtained information on participants' alcohol use, attitudes and personal values. The results show that the attitudes model correctly classifies 76.3% of cases. Likewise, the model for level of alcohol use correctly classifies 82% of cases. According to our results, we can conclude that there are a series of individual values that influence drinking and attitudes to alcohol use, which therefore provides us with a potentially powerful instrument for developing preventive intervention programs.

Sentencing and dispositions of youth DUI and other alcohol offenses: a guide for judges and prosecutors.

Mode of access: Internet.

Summary of work performed pursuant to the development of K-12 alcohol and alcohol safety curriculum materials. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.