Friendly Peersuasion Against Substance Use: The Girls Incorporated Model and Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 170869
• Journal: Drugs & Society Volume: 12 Issue: 1/2 Dated: (1998) Pages: 7-22
• Author(s): F L Weiss; H J Nicholson
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

Girls Incorporated Friendly Peersuasion, a leadership and substance abuse prevention program based on the social influence model, is designed to help girls between 11 and 14 years of age acquire knowledge, skills, and support systems to avoid substance abuse.

Abstract

In the first program phase, girls participate in 14-hour sessions facilitated by trained adult leaders. They are involved in such activities as games, group discussions, and role playing in which they learn about short-term and long-term effects of substance abuse, healthy ways to manage stress, how to recognize media and peer pressure to use drugs, and skills for making responsible decisions about substance use. In the second program phase, small teams of Peersuaders plan and implement 8 to 10 half-hour sessions of substance prevention activities for children between 6 and 10 years of age. Working with adult leaders, Peersuaders draw on the skills and activities introduced in the first program phase and their own experiences and creativity to present factual information and to model and practice skills, attitudes, and behaviors related to substance abuse prevention. The program was evaluated at four sites who were able to recruit at least 100 girls between 11 and 14 years of age to participate as Peersuaders. Participants at the four sites completed several questionnaires, and resulting data were analyzed. Questionnaire responses indicated program participants, especially younger participants, were at a critical time in their lives for beginning or continuing substance use. Friendly PEERsuasion appeared to be most effective in delaying initial or repeat substance abuse among younger participants. When data were combined from all four demonstration sites, results showed participation in Friendly PEERsuasion helped girls achieve, at least on a short-term basis, the desirable outcomes of avoiding substance use and leaving situations in which substances were being used. 26 references and 4 tables