NCJ Number
157449
Date Published
1995
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examines the immediate impact of nine social influence-oriented activities on drug-related knowledge and beliefs for students at six traditional and six continuation high schools from the same southern California school districts.
Abstract
A total of 479 continuation high school students and 706 traditional high school students were selected. Students in continuation high schools typically work independently and at their own pace while in school; however, social influence prevention activities were designed to be led by a teacher/health educator and to require student participation. Each classroom received activities and assessments in a 4-day evaluation sequence. The process was the same for the first 3 days of the sequences. Students were administered a brief pretest, the activity, and a brief posttest. The fourth and final day involved focus group discussions of the three activities. The relative effectiveness of two program delivery methods (active versus passive) also was examined. Continuation high school students reported much higher levels of overall drug use. Across school type, the activities showed the most impact on knowledge change. The activities exerted a relatively greater impact on traditional high school students and when the active delivery mode was used. Potential limitations of the effectiveness of social influences- oriented substance abuse prevention programming with continuation high school youth are discussed. 3 tables and 16 references