Chapter 17: Preventing Substance Abuse

education programs

with the goal of imparting knowledge

prevention programs

aimed at modifying drug-using behavior

most of the research in the past 40 years has _ to demonstrate that prevention produce a clear, meaningful message

failed

why were the affective prevention programs in the 1970s criticized?

lacking a strong scientific foundation and effectiveness in achieving behavior change, too value-free

DARE program

a school-based program aimed at preventing drug use and promoting positive life choices, which has faced criticism for its effectiveness.

What is the distinction between secondary and tertiary prevention?

Secondary prevention is aimed at people who experimented with drugs already and preventing them from using more dangerous drugs. Whereas tertiary prevention is aimed at people who have been through drug treatment.

What is the knowledge-attitudes-behavior model, and what information first called it into question?

It's where teachers attend courses taught by experts (scare-tactics, pharmacology dry facts), then brought these facts into the classroom. A study indicated that students with more knowledge about drugs tended to have a more positive attitude toward drugs

Explain what is meant by "value-free" values clarification programs, and why they fell out of favor in the 1980s?

Teaches students to recognize and express their own feelings and beliefs. It ran contrary to the particular set of values the parents wanted their children to learn

When the Drug-Free Schools programs began in 1986, the emphasis shifted away from curriculum to what?

The emphasis on factors other than curriculum, such as school policies on drug and alcohol use (locker searches, suspension, and expulsion)

What were the five successful components of the social influences model for smoking prevention?

Training refusal skills, public commitment, countering advertising, normative education, and use of teen leaders

In project ALERT, what was the impact of using teen leaders to assist the instructors?

With teen leaders they had the largest reduction in cigarette use: 50% fewer students were weekly smokers at the 15 month follow upand a significant decrease in overall smoking rates among participants.

What distinguishes DARE from other similar programs based on the social influence model?

The educational program with DARE is delivered by police officers in 5th and 6th grade classrooms originally

What do ALERT and Life Skills Training have in common, besides their effectiveness?

Communication with children, decision-making skills, how to set goals and limits, and when and how to say no to your child

What are some of the "parenting" skills that might be taught and practiced in a prevention program?

Skills such as effective communication, understanding child development, decision-making strategies, setting appropriate boundaries, and techniques for saying no to peer pressure.

What is the most common component of "drug-free workplace" plans?

Random urine screenings

DARE

drug abuse resistance education; the most popular prevention program in schools

social influence model

a prevention model adopted from successful smoking programs

values clarification

teaching students to recognize and express their own feelings and beliefs

alternatives

alternative nondrug activities, such as relaxation or dancing

traditional approach

presentation of negative information about drugs in schools, goal was to prevent drug use, until 1970s most drug prevention programs were not evaluated

public health model

primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention

continuum of care

universal, selective, and indicated

types of prevention programs in schools

knowledge-attitudes-behavior model, affective education, anti-drug norms, social influence model, DARE

Knowledge-attitudes-behavior model

involved presentations by police, former drug users, or pharmcologists and included traditional scare tactics; assumption was that increasing knowledge would change their attitudes and behaviors

1971 research findings on knowledge-attitudes-behaviors

students with more knowledge about drugs tended to have more positive attitudes towards drug use; concern arose about drug education contributing to increase drug use

affective education

focuses on emotions and attitutudes that may underlie some drug use, students may use drugs for different reasons, drug use may be reduce by helping children; values clarification, alternative to drugs, and personal and social skills

antidrug norms

In the mid 1980s, there were growing concerns about affective education programs; not enough emphasis on resisting interpersonal pressures; introduced refusal skills and drug-free schools

refusal skills

focus on teaching students to recognize and respond to peer pressure to use drugs “just say no”

drug-free schools

1986 was the year federal governments began providing direct aid for drug-prevention; school policies were designed to demonstrate that the school did not condone drug use

social influence model

adopted from successful smoking programs, Advantages of education research on smoking prevention programs directed at adolescents

key elements of social influence model

training refusal skills, public commitment, countering advertising, normative education, and use of teen leaders

DARE

developed in 1983 in LA, and spread rapidly into every state in 1990s, Continues to be widely used despite its failure to demonstrate significant impact on drug use, contains many components of earlier prevention models

programs that work…

Project ALERT and Life skills training

Project ALERT

cigarette experimenters were more likely to quit or to main low rates of smoking, initation of marijuana smoking among nonusers reduced, and level of marijuana smoking among users reduced (7th-8th graders)

life skills training

teaches resistance skills, normative education, media influences, self-managment skills, and general social skills

peer influence approaches

based on open discussion among a group of children or adolescents

peer participation programs

emphasize that people become participating members of society

peer programs effectiveness

inconclusive and not yet available

parent and family programs

information programs, parenting skills, parent support, and family interactions

informational programs

provide parents with basic information about alcohols and drugs and their use and effects; rationale for these programs is that well-informed parents

parenting skills program

focus on communication with children, decision making, setting goals and limits, and when and how to say no to children, can be taught through practice training programs

parent support groups

key adjuncts to skills training or in planning community efforts

family interaction approaches

families work as a unit to examine, discuss, and confront issues relating to alcohol and drug use, programs can improve family communication and strengthen knowledge and skills

community based programs

widespread community supports and involves local businesses and the public media

prevention in the workplace

In 1989, all companies and organizations that obtain federal funding required to adopt a “drug-free workplace” plan through random urine screening