NCJ Number
208237
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 155-166
Date Published
2004
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the methodology and findings of an evaluation of Project PRIDE, a school-based, counselor-administered drug and alcohol prevention program.
Abstract
The most recent upgrades in Project PRIDE have emphasized the development of specific resistance skills and social competencies found in programs such as the Life Skills Training program developed by Botvin, as well as cognitive units on drug education, peer norms, and media pressure. Project PRIDE is designed to be implemented in small groups (8-12 participants) conducted by master's level prevention specialists. After this modified program had been operating for some weeks, a new formal evaluation was conducted to determine whether the changes had produced the intended outcomes. The target population for the evaluation consisted of 270 students in sixth and seventh grades in schools across the Philadelphia region. The evaluation featured the random assignment of schools and classes to treatment and control conditions. Based on operational definitions of Project PRIDE's goals, pretested instruments were administered to the students, and process measures applied throughout the treatment period showed degree of student participation. Approximately 3 months after program completion, a posttest was administered to the students. The test measured how drug use affected social image, advertising influence, comfort level in saying "No" to drugs, ways to say "No," drug facts, and estimation of peer drug use. Project PRIDE participants demonstrated greater pretest to posttest gains on five of six outcome measures compared to control students, although many of the changes were small or moderate, and only two were statistically significant. As predicted, gains in more factual areas of the program were greater than in more subjective areas of perceptions and feelings. The limitations and implications of these findings are discussed, along with the advantages of the Binomial Effect Size Display as a data-presentation mode that promotes client and general audience understanding of results. 2 tables and 11 references