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Guide
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PROJECT TOWARDS NO DRUG ABUSE
OVERVIEW
Project towards No Drug Abuse is a multi-session, school-based program designed to prevent drug use in high school students. Program curriculum alerts students to the health risks associated with drug use and helps students develop skills relevant to drug-resistance. The program was initially developed for students in alternative high schools; however, it has been successfully implemented in general high schools as well.
Project Towards No Drug Abuse has been shown to have a significant impact on the use of hard drugs. A long-term evaluation of the program found that the impact on hard drug use was observable five years after the program’s completion. Project Towards No Drug Abuse also has been shown to have a significant short-term impact on alcohol use amongst heavy users, but this impact was no longer observable at the five year point. The program has not been shown to have an impact on the use of cigarettes or marijuana.
DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM
Target Population: High school students
This program started with the intention to focus on tobacco use but expanded to all drugs. Project Towards No Drug Abuse, a school-based program, is based on the theory that high school students are less likely to use or abuse drugs if they know what is fact versus what is myth surrounding drugs, have the skills to lower their risk of taking drugs (e.g., coping and self-control), understand the consequences of taking drugs, and known about cessation strategies. The program, as it was initially developed, included nine 50-minute lessons and was designed specifically for at-risk youth. Currently, the program includes twelve 40-minute lessons and is considered appropriate for all high-school aged youth. A program manual can be purchased for $12.
Program condition schools went through a three-week-long, nine-session implementation of the Project Towards No Drug Abuse program. In the classroom plus school-as-community schools, the Project Towards No Drug Abuse program was supplemented by community-building events (including weekly meetings of an Associated Student Body Core Group for six months, at least six pro-health events, and distribution of a community newsletter). The researchers’ hope was that the effectiveness of the classroom-based programming might be increased by the provision of drug abuse material outside of the classroom.
EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM
Sussman, S., Dent, C. W., Stacy, A. W., & Craig, S. (1998). One-year outcomes of Project Towards No Drug Abuse. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice & Theory, 27, 632-642.
Evaluated Population: Continuation high school youth (high-risk) in southern California (N=1,074 at follow-up, 67% of the sample at baseline). Mean age of students was 16.7 years. Of the sample, 62% were male, 37% were white, 46% were Latino, 4% were asian, 8% were black, 3% were American Indian, and 2% were another race.
Approach: Twenty-one schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: control, classroom program, and classroom plus school-as-community program (encouraging students to engage in positive relationships with others at the school).
The authors measured cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drug use at one year follow-up.
Results: The authors analyzed the individual students instead of the classrooms, and they used appropriate statistical methods to account for the issues that arise from such a choice. The outcomes of drug use at the one-year follow-up varied significantly by condition. The data show that those in the intervention group nearly halved their monthly use frequency compared with those in the control group. The program conditions did not significantly differ from one another on any outcomes. At the one-year follow-up, for all four outcomes except cigarette use, the control condition had higher means for frequency of use than either of the two interventions.
Sun, W., Skara, S., Sun, P., Dent, C. W., & Sussman, S. (2006). Project Towards No Drug Abuse: Long-term substance use outcome evaluation. Preventative Medicine, 42, 188-192.
Evaluated Population: Students from 21 alternative high schools (N=1578) in southern California consented to evaluation at pre-test. (This represents an 85% participation rate amongst eligible students.) Of these students, 32% were white, 50% were Hispanic, 9% were African American, and 9% were of other ethnicity. These students were followed for five years, with 1074 (68%) providing short-term data, 1047 (66%) providing middle-term data, and 725 (46%) providing long-term data. The students ranged in age from 14 to 19 at pre-test.
Approach: Alternative high schools (N=21 schools, N=1578 students) were assigned to a classroom-only program condition (N=7), a classroom plus school-as-community program condition (N=7), or a control condition (N=7). All schools administered a survey on recent (within the last 30 days) drug use to consenting students.
Students were re-surveyed (primarily via phone interview) on their recent drug use in the short-term (after 1 year), middle-term (after 2 or 3 years), and long-term (after 4 or 5 years).
Results: At the one-year mark, The Project Towards No Drug Abuse program was found to have had an impact on the use of hard drugs. The program conditions were significantly less likely to use hard drugs than the control condition. Amongst those participants identified as heavy users of alcohol at pre-test, there was also a significant impact on alcohol use. In the long-term, the impact on hard drug use remained significant while impact on alcohol use had dissipated. The program was not found to have had an impact on cigarette or marijuana use. The addition of community-building events to the program did not significantly increase the program’s effectiveness.
Dent, C. W., Sussman, S., & Stacy, A. W. (2001). Project Towards No Drug Abuse: Generalizability to a general high school sample. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice & Theory, 32, 514-520.
Approach: Students from all 26 classrooms took a survey on recent (within the last 30 days) drug use. Thirteen classrooms were assigned to a control group and 13 were assigned to the classroom education program condition. Classes assigned to the program condition received a three-week, nine-session implementation of the Towards No Drug Abuse program. Students were re-surveyed after one year, either via telephone interview or a paper-and-pencil questionnaire.
Results: One year after program completion, Project Towards No Drugs was found to have had a significant impact on the use of illicit drugs. Among students with higher levels of alcohol use at pre-test, the program was successful in impacting alcohol use. The program was not found to have had a significant impact on the use of marijuana or cigarettes.
The patterns found in this study of general high school youth replicated those previously found in a study of youth at higher-risk high schools (Sussman et al., 1998). Researchers concluded that Project Towards No Drug Abuse is appropriate for a wide-range of high-schoolers.
Dent, C. W., Sussman, S., & Stacy, A. W. (2001). Project Towards No Drug Abuse: Generalizability to a general high school sample. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice & Theory, 32, 514-520.
Sun, W., Skara, S., Sun, P., Dent, C. W., & Sussman, S. (2006). Project Towards No Drug Abuse: Long-term substance use outcome evaluation. Preventative Medicine, 42, 188-192.
Sussman, S., Dent, C. W., Stacy, A. W., & Craig, S. (1998). One-year outcomes of Project Towards No Drug Abuse. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice & Theory, 27, 632-642.
Website: http://tnd.usc.edu
KEYWORDS: Adolescence (12-17), Youth, Young Adults, Substance Use, Alcohol Use, Marijuana/Illicit/Prescription Drugs, High-Risk, High School, School-based, White or Caucasian, Hispanic or Latino, Black or African-American, Community, Urban, Tobacco Use.
Program information last updated 5/24/11.
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© Child Trends 2003 |