Effects of a Community-Based Prevention Program on Decreasing Drug Use in High-Risk Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 253589
• Date Published: January 2021
• Length: 5 pages

Annotation

This article reports on a study that examined the secondary prevention effects of a substance abuse primary prevention program for high-risk adolescents.

Abstract

Logistic regression analyses were conducted on four waves of follow-up data from sixth-grade and seventh-grade baseline users of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana who were participating in a school-based program in Indianapolis called the Midwestern Prevention Project. The evaluation found significant reductions in cigarette use at the initial follow-up (6 months) and alcohol use at the first two follow-ups (up to 1.5 years). Models that considered repeated measures also found reductions in the use of all three substances. The overall conclusion of this evaluation is that primary prevention programs can reduce substance use by high-risk adolescents in a non-stigmatizing program. 3 tables, 1 figure, and 31 references (publisher abstract modified)