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An intervention for preventing alcohol use among inner-city middle school students
C E Werch1, D M Anzalone, L M Brokiewicz
1Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Health Promotion, College of Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, USA.
Objective:
To examine the effectiveness of a brief, school-based intervention for preventing alcohol use.
Design And Setting:
Randomized, control trial assigning inner-city public school students to an intervention program or a comparison program.
Participants:
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in Jacksonville, Fla (N=104).
Interventions:
Students assigned to the intervention program were given a self-instructional module and corresponding audiotape, a health consultation with a physician or nurse, and a follow-up consultation with a trained peer health model.
Main Outcome Measures:
Alcohol consumption during the month after the intervention and students' assessments of the interventions were measured.
Results:
Students' t tests showed participants were more satisfied with physician or nurse consultations than with peer consultations or the self-instructional module and audiotapes (P=.05). Analysis of covariance tests showed significant main effects for 30-day quantity of alcohol use (F=5.15, P=.02), with intervention students reporting less alcohol consumption at follow-up than comparison students, and for 30-day frequency of alcohol use (F=5.92,P=.01) with intervention students again showing less frequent use at follow-up.
Conclusions:
A multicomponent, school-based intervention using print and audiotape media, brief physician or nurse consultations, and follow-up peer contacts holds promise in altering short-term alcohol use and selected behavioral factors among inner-city youth.