A short-term outcome evaluation of the "I'm Special" drug abuse prevention program: a revisit using SCAT inventory

In the previous evaluation of "I'm Special" (ISP) drug abuse prevention/education program, the long-term impact was reported. The current study examines the short-term outcome of the ISP to establish a conceptual link between what has been observed longitudinally to the short-term outcome. The evaluation instrument used is children's Self-Concept Attitudinal (SCAT) Inventory. Subjects are the third grade students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The evaluation design employed is before and after-measurement without a control group. In the absence of a control group, the treatment effect of the ISP is estimated on the basis of individual growth curve models. Through the study, it has been learned that the ISP was able to generate positive changes along six attitudinal dimensions included in the SCAT Inventory. The six scales have shown close relationships to student performance at school: student-teacher relationship; self-esteem, attitude toward school, basic social values, advanced social values, and the perception of family cohesiveness. Of these, the first four scales have shown statistical significance at the .05 level. It is estimated that the ISP is capable of generating a significant amount of positive attitudinal changes on a short-term basis with a time span of about four months between pre- and posttests. These findings are consistent with the conclusions obtained from the longitudinal study where student alcohol and other drug using behavior and other related student problem behaviors were significantly lower among the ISP recipients than non-recipients of the program.