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Drug Abuse Prevention Programs

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Drug Abuse Prevention Programs
Running head: DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION

Drug Abuse Prevention Programs:
Effectiveness of DARE and Project ALERT

Drug Abuse Prevention Programs:
Effectiveness of DARE and Project ALERT Although drug use among secondary school students appears to have leveled off during the late 1990s, US adolescents continue to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana at unacceptably high rates. Among eighth graders, 52% have tried alcohol, 41% have tried cigarettes, and 20% have tried marijuana. By 12th grade these rates are substantially higher, with large numbers of adolescents engaging in regular drug use (Ellickson, Bell, & McGuigan, 1993). In spite of numerous programs implemented in elementary, middle, and high schools to prevent drug, alcohol, and tobacco usage this problem continues to escalate at alarming rates. Researchers and critics have ongoing debates over the most effective way to prevent future drug, alcohol, and tobacco usage among children, yet there has been little consensus regarding exactly how to combat this growing epidemic. The issue surrounding the debate is specifically which programs to implement that most effectively prevent these addictions among adolescents (Gorman, 1994). School-based drug prevention programs are popular because they aim to reduce a person’s first use of drugs, and some researchers believe that early experimental use of drugs leads to increased regular drug use and addiction (McNeal & Hanson, 1995). Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and Project ALERT are just two examples of such programs. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of Project DARE and Project ALERT. A discussion of each program will include a description of its goals, along with how they are implemented, and an explanation of the empirical findings. DARE was created out of the need to prevent future drug usage in adolescents, as a result of the increasing drug epidemic occurring in the US in the early 1980s. The philosophy behind the


References: Clayton, R. R., Catarello, A., & Wooden, K. P. (1991). Sensation seeking as a potential mediating variable for school-based prevention intervention: A two-year follow-up of DARE. Health Communication, 3(4), 229-239. Ellickson, P. L., Bell, R. M., & Harrison, E. R. (1993). Changing adolescent propensities to use drugs: Results from project ALERT. Health Education Quarterly, 20, 227-242. Ellickson, P. L., Bell, R. M., & McGuigan, K. (1993). Preventing adolescent drug use: Long-term results of a junior high program. American Journal of Public Health, 83(6), 856-861. Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., Ghosh-Dastidar, B., Longshore, D. L., (2003). New inroads in preventing adolescent drug use: Results from a large-scale trial of project ALERT in middle schools. American Journal of Public Health. 93(11), 1830-1836. Ennett, S. T., Tobler, N. S., Ringwalt, C. L., & Flewelling, R. L. (1994). How effective is drug abuse resistance education? A meta-analysis of project DARE outcome evaluations. American Journal of Public Health. 84(9), 1394-1401. Ghosh-Dastidar, B., Longshore, D. L., Ellickson, P. L., & McCaffrey, D. F. (2004). Modifying pro-drug risk factors in adolescents: Results from project ALERT. Health Education and Behavior, 31(3), 318-334. Gorman, D. M. (1994). Preventing adolescent drug use: The effectiveness of project ALERT. American Journal of Public Health, 84(3), 500-501. Lynam, D. R., Milich, R., Zimmerman, R., Novak, S. P., Logan, T. K., Martin, C., Leukefeld, C., Clayton, R. (1991). Project DARE: No effects at 10-Year follow-up. Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, 67(4), 590-593. McNeal, R., B. & Hanson, W., B. (1995) An examination of strategies for gaining convergent validity in natural experiments: D.A.R.E. as an illustrative case study. Evaluation Review, 141–158. Orlando , M., Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., & Longshore, D. L. (2005). Mediation analysis of a school-based drug prevention program: Effects of project ALERT. Prevention Science, 6(1), 35-46. Pan, W. & Bai, H. (2009). A multivariate approach to a meta-analytic review of the effectiveness of the DARE program. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6(1), 267-277. Thombs, D. L. (2000). A retrospective study: Substantive effects not detected in undergraduates Weiss, C. H., Graham, E. M., & Birkeland, S. (2005). An alternate route to policy Influence West, S. L. & Keri, K. O. (2004). Project DARE outcome effectiveness revisited. American Journal of Public Health, 94(6), 1027-1029.
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