NCJ Number
146973
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1994) Pages: 3-31
Date Published
1994
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Using a randomized, longitudinal design, this study evaluated the effectiveness of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program in a sample of 1,584 students who underwent the program at 36 schools in Illinois.
Abstract
A student questionnaire was administered in February 1991 to measure respondents' use of substances, general school performance, general attitudes toward drugs, attitudes toward the use of specific drugs, perceived peer attitudes, perceptions of the media's influence on smoking and beer drinking, self-esteem, assertiveness, attitudes toward police, and peer resistance skills. The questionnaire was readministered 1 year later. The results showed that the DARE program had no significant impact on students' use of alcohol or cigarettes by the spring of the following school year. Furthermore, only one of the 13 intervening cognitive or attitudinal variables showed a significant program effect. The findings provide little support for the comprehensive model of school-based drug prevention education, emphasize that positive outcomes are not guaranteed by a prosocial and widely supported program, and highlight the need to review the DARE curriculum. The authors suggest that the program should focus less on issues not directly related to preventing substance abuse, such as building self-esteem, and more on factors known to be powerful in predicting drug use. 7 tables, 5 notes, and 72 references