Citation

Abbey A, Oliansky D, Stilianos K, Hohlstein LA, Kaczynski R. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 1990; 11(2): 149-162.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article describes an evaluation of an early elementary substance abuse prevention program designed to provide information about alcohol and other drugs and to augment psychosocial skills. The second-grade classrooms from one school (3 classes; 55 students) were randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group. A pretest-posttest design and covariate analyses of variance were used. Program participants scored significantly higher than control group members at the posttest on a knowledge test with questions based directly on program material. Program participants also expressed significantly more negative attitudes about the effects of alcohol use than did control group members. There were no consistent, significant differences between the control and experimental groups at the posttest on measures of self-esteem, coping skills, decision making, peer pressure resistance, or help seeking. The early elementary school years are a critical point in the development of attitudes about substance use and psychosocial skills. Curriculum additions are proposed to increase the likelihood that programs designed for young children will be effective.