Family-School Partnership Intervention to Reduce Risk of Substance Use
Problems addressed
Drug abuse
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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

This is a universal prevention intervention for elementary school students. The aim is to reduce the risk of future substance use by improving communication and behavioral management skills on the part of parents and teachers.
The intervention has three main components:
1) 3-day training in communication between parents and teachers, and the creation of a family-school partnership through a manualized protocol;
2) Weekly activities to carry out at home, developing learning and communication skills; and
3) 3 mini-courses for parents.
The program is coordinated by the first-grade teacher and the school psychologist or social worker assigned after 60 hours of training in the program.

Impact evaluations

An impact assessment showed that in a 6-7 year period after the program, participants were statistically less likely to have started using tobacco compared to students in the control group, who did not participate in the program. The program had no significant impact on the use of alcohol, cannabis, inhalants, or other drugs [1] [2].

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

[2] Furr-Holden, C. D. M., Ialongo, N. S., Anthony, J. C., Petras, H., & Kellam, S. G. (2004). Developmentally inspired drug prevention: middle school outcomes in a school-based randomized prevention trial. Drug and alcohol dependence, 73(2), 149-158.

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