Effectiveness of four school health education projects upon substance use, self-esteem, and adolescent stress

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of school health education projects on substance use, self-esteem, and stress. The subjects were 161 adolescents in fifth through eighth grades in four school health education projects funded through the Ohio Department of Health. Data collection included pretest/posttest questionnaires on self-report use of tobacco products, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. In addition, the Hare Self-Esteem and the Adolescent Stress Symptomology Scales were utilized. There was a six-week interval between pretest and posttest administration. MANCOVA, with age as a covariate, was used to compare pretest/posttest scores for self-esteem and stress symptomology. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with project staff about the educational methodology of their intervention. The results revealed that the predominate educational method used by the projects was lecture/discussion. There were no significant differences between pretest/posttest questionnaires for frequency of substance use, self-esteem, or stress symptomology. Effective school health education programs need sufficient quantity and quality in order to have an impact on health behaviors and the intermediate health-enhancing variable of self-esteem.