Alcohol education for 13 year olds--does it work? Results from a controlled evaluation

This paper presents the findings from a controlled prospective study of the effectiveness of a school-based alcohol education package for 13 year olds. The research had three phases: (1) baseline survey of alcohol-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviour; (2) development and teaching of a short alcohol education package and (3) follow-up survey. The results indicate that the students who received the alcohol education knew more about alcohol than the controls. In addition, the educational intervention was found to have influenced the self-reported last consumption of alcohol and maximum consumption, with the 'educated' youngsters generally exhibiting more restrained behaviour. There has been little scientific evidence that past alcohol education has been effective in changing young people's drinking behaviour. The outcome of this research reinforces some recent studies which suggest the way forward may lie in an educational approach which takes account of social influences on substance use and misuse.