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School-based prevention for illicit drugs use: a systematic review
Fabrizio Faggiano1, Federica D Vigna-Taglianti, Elisabetta Versino
1Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Avogadro University, Novara, Italy. fabrizio.faggiano@med.unipmn.it
Preventive Medicine
|February 9, 2008
Summary
Skills-based school programs effectively reduce marijuana and hard drug use. These interventions also enhance decision-making skills and resistance to peer pressure, making them a valuable tool for substance use prevention.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Substance Abuse Prevention
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Adolescent drug use remains a significant public health concern.
- Effective school-based interventions are crucial for preventing and reducing substance use among young people.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of school-based interventions in preventing or reducing drug use among students.
Main Methods:
- A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration method across multiple databases.
- Included were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) evaluating school-based substance use prevention programs.
- Interventions were categorized as skills, affective, or knowledge-focused, with data extracted and quality assessed by two independent reviewers.
Main Results:
- Twenty-nine RCTs, primarily from the USA and targeting 6th-7th graders, were analyzed.
- Skills-based interventions significantly reduced marijuana and hard drug use and improved decision-making, self-esteem, and peer pressure resistance compared to usual curricula.
- Affective and knowledge-focused interventions showed benefits in improving decision-making skills and drug knowledge, with skills-based programs demonstrating superior effects on self-efficacy.
Conclusions:
- Skills-based school programs are effective in deterring drug use.
- Further research with well-designed, long-term randomized trials is needed to evaluate specific intervention components.
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