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Guide to Effective
Programs |
Keep a Clear Mind
OVERVIEW
The Keep A Clear Mind (KACM) program is a four-week take-home drug education program designed for upper elementary school students. The program contains four weekly sets of activities to be completed by students and their parents together. An experimental evaluation randomly assigned students by classroom using a waiting list design. Two weeks after the program, analyses indicate that both mothers and fathers who participated in the Keep A Clear Mind program reported significantly greater communication with their children about how to resist peer pressure related to drug and alcohol use than parents in the control group and students perceived less drug use among peers; but no differences were found between the groups on drug-related knowledge or beliefs, intentions to use alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, and knowledge and motivation pertaining to alcohol and marijuana.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target population: Families with children ages 8 to 12 years old
Keep a Clear Mind is an early-intervention drug education program that includes several weekly lessons aimed at helping students develop skills to refuse the use of drugs (Werch, 1991). The program is designed so that parents and their upper elementary aged children work on the activities together and engage in communication about the effects of drug use. Each lesson contained an introduction of the topic as well as five activities such as answering questions about drugs and listing reasons not to use drugs.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Werch,
C. E., Young, M.,
Evaluated
population: 511 students from 23 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade selected
from six
Approach: The participants were blocked according to school and grade level and were then randomly assigned by class to the control or to the treatment group. The students in the treatment group participated in the Keep a Clear Mind Program and the students in the control group were placed on a wait list for the program. The mean age of the student participants was 10.4 years and there were nearly equal numbers of females (53%) and males (47%). The study also included the 1,022 parents of the participating children. Student and parent surveys measuring drug use, beliefs, intentions and knowledge were administered two weeks before the program began and two weeks after the program was implemented. The parent survey also measured the extent of child-parent communication about drug use.
Results: Analysis of pretest surveys showed that there were no significant differences between the control and treatment groups on variables being tested. Surveys administered two weeks after the program showed that mothers and fathers in the treatment group reported significantly more recent and frequent communication with their children about resisting peer pressure and the effects of drug use, but there were no significant differences found between the treatment and control groups on drug-related knowledge or beliefs. In addition, students in the treatment group perceived less peer pressure to use tobacco and less peer use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana then students in the control group. No significant differences were found between groups on measures of self-efficacy, knowledge of substances, and intention to use alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana in the future.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Link to program curriculum: http://www.keepaclearmind.com/KACM.html
References
Werch,
C. E., Young, M.,
Program categorized in this guide according to the following:
Evaluated participant ages: grades 4-6 / Program age ranges in guide: mid-childhood
Program components: school-based, parent or family component
Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development, life skills
KEYWORDS: Middle Childhood (6-11), Elementary School, Parent or Family Component, School-based, Education and Cognitive Development, Life Skills Training, Substance Use, Illicit Drugs, Marijuana Use, Alcohol Use, Tobacco Use, Communication, Peer Pressure, White or Caucasian, Self Efficacy
Program information last updated 3/14/07
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© Child Trends 2003 |
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