NCJ Number
190735
Date Published
1998
Length
70 pages
Annotation
This document provides information on alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention at institutions of higher education.
Abstract
The goal of this compendium is to assist administrators, staff, evaluators, and AOD prevention specialists in identifying and selecting feasible, informative, and appropriate evaluation instruments to assess AOD use and monitor program effectiveness on campus. Often the most basic piece of information collected in campus assessments is the prevalence of AOD use. The proportion of students drinking alcohol or using other drugs, the frequency of use, and the amount of use are all critical to understanding the AOD use patterns at a college or university and to monitoring program impact. The instruments included in this compendium not only assessed student AOD use but also covered consequences of AOD use; student, staff and faculty perceptions of AOD use; environmental factors that encouraged use or discouraged use; and other issues related to the college or university AOD climate. The chief criteria for inclusion of the instruments in this compendium were that they were designed specifically for a postsecondary student population; well tested, valid, and reliable; and intended for general survey research and not for the diagnosis of alcoholism or alcohol abuse problems individuals. The primary issues that must be considered when choosing an instrument are domain, target population, format, and the technical quality of the instruments. There are three types of validity used in the field: content validity, construct validity, and predictive validity. Important tools designed to cover a variety of areas relevant to campus AOD prevention are frequency and amount of AOD use; consequences of AOD use; student perceptions of AOD use on campus; fraternity and sorority AOD environment; faculty and staff perceptions of AOD use; and community coalition involvement in prevention efforts. 12 footnotes