New Inroads in Preventing Adolescent Drug Use: Results From a Large-Scale Trial of Project ALERT in Middle Schools

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 93; no. 11; pp. 1830 - 1836
• Main Authors: Ellickson, Phyllis L, McCaffrey, Daniel F, Ghosh-Dastidar, Bonnie, Longshore, Douglas L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01-11-2003; American Public Health Association; American Journal of Public Health 2003
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescent Health; Adolescent Health Services - organization & administration; Adolescent Health Services - standards; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol Drinking - prevention & control; Alcohol use; Behavior; Biological and medical sciences; Cigarettes; Core curriculum; Curriculum; Drug abuse; Drug prevention; Drug use; Education; Female; Health Behavior; Health Education - organization & administration; Health Education - standards; Humans; Learning; Male; Marijuana; Marijuana Smoking - epidemiology; Marijuana Smoking - prevention & control; Medical sciences; Middle schools; Models, Organizational; Pilot Projects; Prevention and actions; Prevention programs; Preventive programmes; Program Evaluation - methods; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk-Taking; Rural areas; School districts; School Health Services - organization & administration; School Health Services - standards; Secondary schools; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking cessation; Smoking Prevention; South Dakota; South Dakota - epidemiology; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Students; Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control; Teenagers; USA; South Dakota; United States > US; Human; Prevention; Sanitary program; Drug addiction; School; Adolescent; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.93.11.1830

We evaluated the revised Project ALERT drug prevention program across a wide variety of Midwestern schools and communities.
Fifty-five South Dakota middle schools were randomly assigned to program or control conditions. Treatment group students received 11 lessons in 7th grade and 3 more in 8th grade. Program effects for 4276 8th-graders were assessed 18 months after baseline.
The revised Project ALERT curriculum curbed cigarette and marijuana use initiation, current and regular cigarette use, and alcohol misuse. Reductions ranged from 19% to 39%. Program effects were not significant for initial and current drinking or for current and regular marijuana use.
School-based drug prevention programs can prevent occasional and more serious drug use, help low- to high-risk adolescents, and be effective in diverse school environments.