Classroom-Centered Intervention to Reduce Risk of Substance Use
Problems addressed
Drug abuse
Alcohol abuse
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Life periods served
Children (4 to 13 years)
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Education establishment
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a universal prevention program for elementary school students to reduce the risk of psychoactive substance use through the development of preventive skills by teachers, complementing the school curriculum.
The program develops curricular changes to improve behavior change practices in the classroom and complementary strategies for the children who do not participate. Teachers also used the “Good Behavior Game” as a strategy to promote social problem-solving in a group context and manage student behavior.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed that the program led to a moderate reduction in the early use of tobacco and other illegal drugs, but had no effect on the use of alcohol, cannabis, and inhalants. The study had an experimental design with a sample of 678 first-graders recruited from nine elementary schools, mainly located in West Baltimore, Maryland [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Storr, C. L., Ialongo, N. S., Kellam, S. G. & Anthony, J. C. (2002). A randomized controlled trial of two primary school intervention strategies to prevent early onset tobacco smoking. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 66(1), 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-8716(01)00184-3

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