Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Mar 16:13:821867.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.821867. eCollection 2022.

Prevention of Alcohol Consumption Programs for Children and Youth: A Narrative and Critical Review of Recent Publications

Rafael Sánchez-Puertas  1   2 , Silvia Vaca-Gallegos  2 , Carla López-Núñez  3 , Pablo Ruisoto  1
Affiliations
Review

Prevention of Alcohol Consumption Programs for Children and Youth: A Narrative and Critical Review of Recent Publications

Rafael Sánchez-Puertas et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: Youth substance use is a public health problem globally, where alcohol is one of the drugs most consumed by children, and youth prevention is the best intervention for drug abuse.

Objective: Review the latest evidence of alcohol use prevention programs in empirical research, oriented to all fields of action among children and youth.

Methods: A narrative and critical review was carried out within international databases (PsychInfo, Pubmed, Web of Science, and Scopus) in August 2021 and was limited to empirical studies that appeared in the last five years (2017-2021). A flow diagram was used according to the PRISMA statements. Empirical research articles in English with RCTs and quasi-experimental design that included alcohol, children, and young people up to 19 years of age (universal, selective, or indicated programs) were included. The authors examined the results and conceptual frameworks of the Prevention programs by fields of action.

Results: Twenty-two articles were found from four fields of action: school (16), family (2), community (2), and web-based (2), representing 16 alcohol prevention programs. School-based alcohol prevention programs are clinically relevant [Theory of Planned Behavior, Refuse, Remove, Reasons, Preventure, The GOOD Life, Mantente REAL, Motivational Interviewing (BIMI), Primavera, Fresh Start, Bridges/Puentes], they are effective in increasing attitudes and intentions toward alcohol prevention behavior, while decreasing social norms and acceptance of alcohol, reducing intoxication, and increasing perceptions with regards to the negative consequences of drinking.

Discussion: This narrative and critical review provides an updated synthesis of the evidence for prevention programs in the school, family, community, and web-based fields of action, where a more significant number of programs exist that are applied within schools and for which would have greater clinical relevance. However, the prevention programs utilized in the other fields of action require further investigation.

Keywords: alcohol; children; prevention; review; youth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow diagram of search and selection of articles according to PRISMA statements.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ajzen I., Madden T. J. (1986). Prediction of goal-directed behavior: attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 22 453–474. 10.1016/0022-1031(86)90045-4 - DOI
    1. Allen M. L., Garcia-Huidobro D., Porta C., Curran D., Patel R., Miller J., et al. (2016). Effective Parenting Interventions to Reduce Youth Substance Use: a Systematic Review. Pediatrics 138:e20154425. 10.1542/peds.2015-4425 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ballester L., Amer J., Sánchez-Prieto L., Valero de Vicente M. (2020). Universal Family Drug Prevention Programmes. A Systematic Review. J. Evid. Based Soc. Work 18 192–213. 10.1080/26408066.2020.1822976 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beckman L., Svensson M., Geidne S., Eriksson C. (2017). Effects on alcohol use of a Swedish school-based prevention programme for early adolescents: a longitudinal study. BMC Public Health 17:2. 10.1186/s12889-016-3947-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Becoña E. (2007). Programa para dejar de fumar. Vigo: Nova Galicia Edicións.

LinkOut - more resources