141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

275465
Enhancing the effectiveness of school-based drug abuse prevention programs in high school students


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Paul Wesley Branscum, PhD, RD, Department of Health and Exercise Science, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
Manoj Sharma, PhD, Health Promotion & Education, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
Drug abuse or substance abuse is a substantial public health problem in the United States particularly among high school students. The purpose of this article was to review school-based programs implemented in high schools for substance abuse prevention and suggest recommendations for future interventions. Included were English language articles indexed in PubMed, CINAHL, or ERIC databases between 2005 to November 2012 involving high school setting, focusing on prevention of drugs and using a quantitative design for evaluation. A total of 18 studies met the criteria with 12 different interventions. Overall, studies were heterogeneous, as only half were based upon theoretical underpinnings, and the duration varied from a brief single session encounter, to a comprehensive, year long intervention. Seven interventions were able to demonstrate statistically significant changes from before to after the intervention with regard to substance use. Recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of future interventions will be presented.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of school-based interventions aimed at drug abuse prevention for adolescents. Identify current limitations for school-based interventions aimed at drug abuse prevention for adolescents. Describe recommendations for future school-based interventions aimed at drug abuse prevention for adolescents.

Keyword(s): Drug Abuse, Adolescent Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in the area of health promotion for many years, and I have a PhD in Health Promotion and Education.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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