Affective and social influences approaches to the prevention of multiple substance abuse among seventh grade students: results from project SMART

Abstract

Two drug abuse prevention curricula were tested to determine their efficacy in preventing the onset of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among adolescents. The first program focused on prevention through social pressure resistance training. The second featured affective education approaches to prevention. Curricula were tested on seventh grade students. Subjects were pretested just prior to the program and were post-tested at 12 and 24 months. Post-test analyses indicated that the social program delivered to seventh grade subjects was effective in delaying the onset of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. No preventive effect of the affective education program was observed. By the final post-test, classrooms that had received the affective program had significantly more drug use than controls.