Making Choices and Reducing Risk (MCARR): School Counseling Primary Prevention of Substance Use

Abstract

The consequences of adolescent drug and alcohol use may be serious and far-reaching, forecasting problematic use or addictive behaviors into adulthood. School counselors are particularly well suited to understand the needs of the school community and to seamlessly deliver sustainable substance use prevention. This pilot study with 46 ninth-grade students investigates the impact of the Making Choices and Reducing Risk (MCARR) program, a drug and alcohol use prevention program for the school setting. The MCARR curriculum addresses general knowledge of substances and their related risks, methods for evaluating risk, and skills for avoiding or coping with drug and alcohol use. Using a motivational interviewing framework, MCARR empowers students to choose freely how they wish to behave in relation to drugs and alcohol and to contribute to the health of others in the school community. The authors hypothesized that the implementation of the MCARR curriculum would influence student attitudes, knowledge, and use of substances. Results suggest that the MCARR had a beneficial impact on student attitudes and knowledge. Further, no appreciable increases in substance use during the program were observed. Initial results point to the promise of program feasibility and further research with larger samples including assessment of longitudinal impact.