ATOD Primary Prevention

This study focuses on the effects of a third grade Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug (ATOD) Prevention Program using a randomly assigned treatment/control group design. Fifty-one students completed a Student Survey and a Student Knowledge Test before and after the prevention program. Intervention group students received ten sessions of the Too Good For Drugs (TGFD) Prevention Program during the lunch hours, while the control group participated in regular lunch time activities. Intervention group students scores on the Perceptions of Harmful Effects of Drugs Student Survey Subscale reached a conventional level of significance when compared to the control students. Intervention students scores on the remaining three Student Survey Sub-scales also increased from pre to post assessment; however, these results did not reach conventional levels of significance. The intervention students results on the Student Knowledge Test showed similar trends with scores increasing from pre to post assessment. Recommendations are made for researching ATOD prevention programs in the early grade levels, across grade levels, and for incorporating longitudinal designs to assess future ATOD use.

Autorentext

Dr. Thierry Kolpin obtained a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in 2008 from Stanford University. He is a full time Professional Counselor Educator faculty at the University of La Verne. He writes and presents on topics related to prevention, specifically in the public school systems. He is an advocate for school counseling and social justice.