The rocky road to change: implications for substance abuse programs on college campuses

The authors' conceptual examination of substance abuse prevention and intervention programs on college campuses is presented in the framework of the elaboration likelihood model and includes a discussion of the peripheral and central routes of persuasion. College students, they suggest, are more likely to communicate through the peripheral route because they generally view the topic of substance abuse as neither relevant nor important in their lives. The authors stress the importance of careful analysis of the relevance, construction, and delivery of messages dealing with substance use and of subsequent evaluation of the impact of programs. These elements must be considered if health educators are to increase the probability of changing attitudes and, ultimately, behaviors. Recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of programs and suggestions for future research are provided.