Drug Abuse Resistance Education Research Articles

Using the Preparation Phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy to Design an Antiextremism Program in Bahrain: Formative and Pilot Research.

Extremism continues to raise concerns about conflict and violent attacks that can lead to deaths, injuries, trauma, and stress. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to radicalization by extremists. Given its location in a region that often experiences extremism, Bahrain developed 4 peaceful coexistence lessons and 4 antiextremism lessons to be implemented as part of their Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. The aim of this study is to report the results of the preparation phase of the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) to develop a peaceful coexistence program and an antiextremism program implemented by D.A.R.E. officers in Bahrain. We developed conceptual models for the peaceful coexistence and antiextremism programs, indicating which mediators each lesson should target, the proximal outcomes that should be shaped by these mediators, and the distal and ultimate outcomes that the intervention should change. We recruited 20 middle schools to pilot test our research protocol, survey measures, and the existing intervention lessons. A total of 854 seventh and ninth grade students completed a pretest survey, 4 peaceful coexistence intervention lessons, and an immediate posttest survey; and a total of 495 ninth grade students completed the pretest survey, 4 antiextremism lessons, and an immediate posttest survey. A series of 3-level models, nesting students within classrooms within schools, tested mean differences from pretest to posttest. Pilot test results indicated that most measures had adequate reliability and provided promising evidence that the existing lessons could change some of the targeted mediators and proximal outcomes. Specifically, students who completed the peaceful coexistence lessons reported significant changes in 5 targeted mediating variables (eg, injunctive norms about intolerance, P<.001) and 3 proximal outcomes [eg, social skills empathy (P=.008); tolerance beliefs (P=.041)]. Students who completed the antiextremism lessons reported significant changes in 3 targeted mediators [eg, self-efficacy to use resistance skills themselves (P<.001)], and 1 proximal outcome (ie, social skills empathy, P<.001). An effective antiextremism program has the potential to protect youth from radicalization and increase peaceful coexistence. We used the preparation phase of MOST to (1) develop a conceptual model, (2) identify the 4 lessons in each program as the components we will evaluate in the optimization phase of MOST, (3) pilot test the existing lessons, our newly developed measures, and research protocol, and (4) determine that our optimization objective will be all effective components. We will use these results to revise the existing lessons and conduct optimization trials to evaluate the efficacy of the individual lessons.

A commercial tobacco and alcohol use intervention for urban Native American youth

ObjectiveWesternized alcohol and commercial tobacco use prevention approaches for Native Americans have not been effective, or sustainable. The overall objective of this study examined the effect of the culturally based Urban Talking Circle (UTC) intervention versus standard education (SE) program for the prevention of alcohol and commercial tobacco use among urban Native American youth. DesignThe study employed a 2-condition quasi-experimental design and utilized convenience and snowball sampling methods for recruiting 100 urban Native American youth participants in two urban Native American community program locations in Florida. Study participants were randomized by their urban Native American community program location to one of the 2-conditions. These included the standard education (SE) program used within United States school systems (drug abuse resistance education) and the Urban Talking Circle (UTC) intervention, culturally tailored and developed for urban Native American youth from the culturally based Talking Circle Intervention for rural Native American Youth. The Native American Alcohol Measure for Youth (NAAMY) and Native Reliance Questionnaire were utilized to collect participants' data. Participants' data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance to determine differences between the scores on all measures at pre/post-intervention for the 2-conditions. ResultsStudy findings indicate that a culturally based intervention was more effective for the reduction of commercial tobacco and alcohol use than a non-culturally based intervention for urban Native American youth. ConclusionThe study findings emphasized that the utilization of the culturally tailored UTC intervention reduced involvement associated with alcohol and commercial tobacco use.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

An article published last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) recommended — rightly, we think — that more stress needs to be put on drug prevention. But the article, which focused on Colorado schools, oddly did not mention the role of marijuana legalization in drug use by young people. Legalization began in Colorado; it was the first state to legalize marijuana. The state administration was hoping to reap tax benefits. Other states have followed. All have had disappointments in the revenue factor. But for this article to report that teaching resilience to young people is the best prevention of drug use, leaving drugs — especially marijuana—out of the curriculum, is not only tone deaf, it is fact deaf. Also note that the [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] D.A.R.E. program has changed radically from what it was, although many people forget this (see https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adaw.31046). For the article, go to https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/opioid‐settlement‐funds‐addiction‐prevention‐dare‐curriculum/.

Arresting the Demand for Drugs: DARE and the School–Police Nexus in Los Angeles

The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program simultaneously changed both the police and schools through the development of what this article calls a school–police nexus, a framing that explains the reciprocal relationship between the police and schools. By enabling officers to assert expertise in the realm of drug education, DARE not only made the police a regular presence in schools but aimed to transform the image of the police officer from a threatening enemy to a friend and mentor. More broadly, DARE intended to make the police a trusted institution in American cities amid the aggressive policing of the drug war. In turn, DARE transformed schools through their educative and disciplinary roles. Using police officers as teachers enabled DARE to coopt the educative function of schools to advance the police mission by other means. Yet, DARE officers did not shed their law-and-order message when they entered the classroom, reinforcing the carceral approach to the drug war.

DARE to Say No: Police and the Cultural Politics of Prevention in the War on Drugs

In the fall of 1983, the Los Angeles Police Department sent police officers into elementary schools to teach the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program. Within a decade DARE had become the nation's preeminent antidrug education program. Yet the DARE program accomplished much more than teaching kids to resist drugs. DARE shifted the responsibility of preventing drug use from social and public-health policy to local, police-led, educative projects that taught personal responsibility, the value of morally strengthened families, and respect for the authority of the police. By stressing the consequences of poor behavior and demanding respect for law and order, DARE attempted to cultivate popular consent for policies that divorced drug use from social and economic conditions. DARE's approach helped justify reductions in social welfare spending and the expansion of policing and incarceration during the 1980s and 1990s.

Short-Term Secondary Effects of a School-Based Drug Prevention Program: Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of the Brazilian Version of DARE's Keepin' it REAL.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the drug and violence resistance educational program (PROERD) on short-term secondary outcomes, such as intentions to use drugs, attitudes toward drugs, school experience, and life skills (refusal, decision-making, and communication). Two cluster-randomized controlled trials were conducted in 30 public schools in the city of São Paulo (Brazil) with 4030 students (1727 fifth and 2303 seventh graders). The intervention group attended 10 PROERD classes conducted by trained police officers, whereas the control group received no intervention. PROERD is a Brazilian adaptation of the North American Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program Keepin' it REAL. Data were collected at two time points: pre-intervention and at 9-month follow-up. Two different paradigms were used in the multilevel analysis, complete case (CC), and intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses, using full information maximum likelihood (FIML). We found mixed results. Although the seventh-year curriculum seems to have positive effects on school experience (coef = 0.093; 95% CI: 0.001, -0.185), it also increases the intention to use cigarettes in the future (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.109, 3.379) and the chances of accepting marijuana (OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.53), and it appears to slightly reduce decision-making skills among fifth graders (coef = -0.078; 95% CI: -0.131, -0.025). Our results suggest that PROERD implementation and cultural adaptation should be reevaluated to understand why the program does not achieve the expected preventive goals and produces potential iatrogenic effects.

Primary Substance Use Prevention Programs for Children and Youth: A Systematic Review.

An updated synthesis of research on substance abuse prevention programs can promote enhanced uptake of programs with proven effectiveness, particularly when paired with information relevant to practitioners and policy makers. To assess the strength of the scientific evidence for psychoactive substance abuse prevention programs for school-aged children and youth. A systematic review was conducted of studies published up until March 31, 2020. Articles on substance abuse prevention programs for school-aged children and youth were independently screened and included if they met eligibility criteria: (1) the program was designed for a general population of children and youth (ie, not designed for particular target groups), (2) the program was delivered to a general population, (3) the program only targeted children and youth, and (4) the study included a control group. Two reviewers independently evaluated study quality and extracted outcome data. Ninety studies met eligibility criteria, representing 16 programs. Programs evaluated with the largest combined sample sizes were Drug Abuse Resistance Education, Project Adolescent Learning Experiences Resistance Training, Life Skills Training (LST), the Adolescent Alcohol Prevention Trial, and Project Choice. Given the heterogeneity of outcomes measured in the included studies, it was not possible to conduct a statistical meta-analysis of program effectiveness. The most research has been conducted on the LST program. However, as with other programs included in this review, studies of LST effectiveness varied in quality. With this review, we provide an updated summary of evidence for primary prevention program effectiveness.

Application of Dare Program for Increased Capabilities of Teenagersin Preventing Drug Abuse Through in Medan

Teenagers are a group of humans who are vulnerable to the drug. It is all because of teenagers age have the process of seeking self of identity and focusing on the group's friends. This activity has done in Sari Rejo, Medan Polonia. Medan Polonia is the second area of higher drugs consumption in Medan. DARE Program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is one program that has proven effective as an intervention to prevent drug abuse for teenagers. This program is carried out by forming peer educators and then training cognitive, affective and psychomotor peer educator skills to prevent drug abuse. Teenagers can expressly reject the invitation of group friends or their peers to try to consume drugs.The results showed the affective and psychomotor capabilities of teenagers are different pre and post DARE Program (p=0,000, p-value 0,000). It is recommended that the overall DARE Program is carried out in order to improve the abilities of teenagers to prevent drug abuse.

Evaluation of the UK D.A.R.E. Primary programme

Aims: Results from the first evaluation of the UK Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Primary programme, designed and undertaken by the (independent academic) authors on data collected in late 2015/early 2016 by the UK providers of the programme are presented. The evaluation assessed the programme against its learning outcomes (covering topics including pupils’ ability to communicate and listen, handle relationships and stress, make safe choices, get help from others) as well as their knowledge and use of substances.Methods: Pre- and post- intervention online surveys of pupils aged 9–11 years from a randomly assigned group of state primary schools in the English East Midlands, split between trial and control samples. Responses from 1496 pupils from 51 schools were analysed and modelled via a set of ordinary least squares regression analyses, controlling for pupils’ and schools’ characteristics.Findings: An overall positive change between the pre- and the post-survey was found, with significant differences in the extent of change between trial and control samples regarding four of the programme’s nine learning outcomes (getting help from others, improving communication and listening skills, knowledge about alcohol and drugs, and making safe choices).Conclusions: This evaluation shows this version of D.A.R.E. to be effective regarding four of the programme’s learning outcomes. Further research is needed to measure the programme’s medium and long-term effects and the potential benefits of D.A.R.E. officers and teachers delivering the programme together, identified in this study.

New D.A.R.E., police facilitate decision‐making skills to prevent drug use

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), the school‐based substance use prevention program delivered by police officers, has quietly changed into a completely different curriculum. Instead of spending 45 minutes lecturing students about drugs — which has proven to be counterproductive, resulting in increasing, rather than decreasing, drug use — the police officers are now showing them videos of various situations and encouraging the students to break out into small groups to talk about how they would respond.

A Better Form of “Education on the Proper Use of Pharmaceutical Products” and “Drug-Abuse Resistance Education” in Junior High School Students and the Perspective of Educators with Different Types of Jobs

A Better Form of “Education on the Proper Use of Pharmaceutical Products” and “Drug-Abuse Resistance Education” in Junior High School Students and the Perspective of Educators with Different Types of Jobs

Community-Based Recovery and Youth Justice

Four well-known delinquency intervention and prevention programs remain both publicly and politically popular regardless of a large body of evidence-based research revealing their ineffectiveness in promoting a lasting desistance from youth violence and crime. Scared straight programs, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.), youth boot camps, and secure large-scale, custodial juvenile correctional facilities overemphasize offender “risk management and maintenance” as opposed to individual, group-based, and/or collective well-being. This article will identify the values that these current and dominant community-centered youth justice initiatives reflect, and it will explain how these values further (or forestall) offender desistance. Viable, evidence-based alternatives consistent with the value orientation of therapeutic and restorative programming will also be evaluated. The article concludes by examining the efficacy of this alternative normative agenda to foster successful desistance from juvenile delinquency and crime.

A Study on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education System in California

A Study on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education System in California

Evaluation of Thailand’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education Project (DARE) Provincial Police Region 1

Aim of this research is to study the factors affecting the problems and obstructions of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) project. This research evaluates project administration, the processes of cooperation among key persons, success of gaining knowledge, positive attitudes and behaviour of students after rehabilitation. The research also suggests methods to improve and develop the operation of the project in the area of the Provincial Police Region 1. Research methodologies were qualitative and quantitative and the participants were interviewed in detail about their field observations as well as their participation in discussions. The key success factors included the support of the heads of relevant organisations. Positive aspect of the DARE project is that it can prevent youths from taking drugs for some time. The negative aspects were the lack of understanding of the police towards project objectives. The suggestions for improvements mostly included providing mobile standard equipment for DARE police and the operation of DARE youth camps in schools, establishment of DARE police clubs and the operation of DARE police groups, which included the commissioned officers and the warrant officers, and curriculum improvement to suit Thai culture and drug situations. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/ijptsud.v1i1.5914 International Journal of Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorder Vol.1(1) 2013: 89-94

Gangs, Criminal Offending, and an Inconvenient Truth

For a theoretically driven school-based program, there is much to like about the findings from the 1and 4-year evaluations of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program provided by Esbensen, Osgood, Peterson, Taylor, and Carson (2013, this issue). Relative to the control group, students who received the 13 lessons of the G.R.E.A.T. curriculum had (a) more positive scores across a range of attitudinal measures central to several theories of criminal behavior; (b) improved police–youth relationships and lower odds of gang membership, satisfying two of the three primary goals of the program; and (c) long-term positive effects on many of the attitudinal outcomes, as well as police–youth relationships and gang membership. The findings for gang membership are important because they stand in contrast to a large body of work, including the first national evaluation of G.R.E.A.T. (Esbensen, Osgood, Taylor, and Peterson, 2001), making this the first study with rigorous randomized control trial evaluation to have a demonstrable impact on decreasing the rates of gang membership. Despite being a “gang” spinoff of the ineffective Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program, the aggregate results suggest that the more inviting and optimistic acronym is indeed fitting for the G.R.E.A.T. program. But the picture is not all rosy. The third primary program goal to “prevent violent and criminal activity” was not achieved despite positive program effects on gang membership and numerous mediating mechanisms. This finding flies in the face of the logic of gang

An international evaluation of DARE in São Paulo, Brazil

Introduction: Although Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) has been one of the most commonly used prevention programmes in the United States, few evaluations have shown DARE to be an effective prevention program. DARE (or PROERD) is frequently used in Brazil as well. A central component of DARE is police officers serving as instructors. It was of interest whether the differing context of Brazil, which provides a different social context and differing relationships between youth and police, may yield different findings.Methods: A post-test only, quasi-experimental study was conducted to examine the long-term effectiveness of DARE in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Participants were 1677 students completing DARE in 2003 and 1388 students from matched comparison schools.Results/Conclusion: There was little evidence to suggest that the DARE programme affected student outcomes or mediators of student outcomes. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.

What is Known About the Effectiveness of Police Practices in Reducing Crime and Disorder?

We build upon previous reviews of the police effectiveness literature to categorize strategies and tactics based on what police should and should not be doing. We also provide relevant information on what police agencies should be doing to implement effective strategies. We argue police should be focusing on hot spots policing, problem-oriented policing (POP), focused deterrence approaches, directed patrol to reduce gun crime, and using DNA in property cases. Police should also recognize the importance of efforts to enhance legitimacy. In contrast, police should be avoiding standard policing tactics such as random preventive patrol, second responder programs, and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). We discuss how well current policing practices match up with effective approaches, describe general implications for policing, and conclude by noting policing strategies which we know too little about to make informed recommendations.

Refining (Not Narrowing) Notions of Program Sustainability

The recent research agenda set forth by Scheirer and Dearing1 on program sustainability may serve as an important step toward clarifying conceptualizations of the lasting effects of public health interventions. A concern arises, however, in defining sustainability as “continued use of program components and activities for the continued achievement of desirable program and population outcomes.”1(p2060) Linking continued activities with ongoing intended outcomes may direct attention and resources away from exploring the full range of enduring program effects. Program outcomes are not only the result of continuing program activities nor are they only desirable or intended. Public health programs have lasting intended and unintended outcomes2a across multiple levels of an implementation system2b that are at least the result of program-setting interactions over time. The seemingly straightforward notion of a “continued program activity” belies complex and meaningful variation; activities can vary in the degree to which they are continued as well as in the degree to which they are considered program-related.3,4 It may be possible to benefit, therefore, from studying the long-term effects of discontinued program activities in addition to the continued intended or modified activities the authors mention. An excellent example of unintended positive effects is provided by research into the continuation of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) in many schools across the country despite evaluations showing failure to achieve its intended effects.5,6 The explanation for this continuation is three-fold: (1) implementing schools had lower expectations for the program than did its developers; (2) local school staff perceived that D.A.R.E. helped students build relationships with their families, as well as with local law enforcement officials; and (3) personal evidence was valued more highly than scientific evidence. By focusing exclusively on the intended outcomes related to youth substance use, evaluations of D.A.R.E. ignored lasting positive effects that provide insight into alternative strategies for promoting prosocial youth behavior. Finally, these effects revealed discrepant goals and values among actors that have important implications for the design and conduct of enduring public health programs. Scheirer and Dearing are to be commended for their contribution to advancing research on program sustainability; these conceptual issues warrant clarification. However, narrowing conceptualizations of program sustainability may be counterproductive at this point in time. If we are interested in understanding the full range of effects—and not just the desirable intended outcomes—of public health interventions, there may be good reasons to conceptualize intervention activity levels and ongoing outcomes as distinct but related dimensions of multidimensional program sustainability.

Prevention and Intervention on the Care Continuum

Historically, there has been a palpable schism between preventionists and interventionists in the field of social work. Although great strides have been made in evidence-based pursuits in both areas, very little overlap has been explored. In fact, the two realms are often viewed as being in competition with one another for resources, agency priorities, and funding. At the risk of recreating dichotomy, we first examine these two distinct areas and then illuminate and transform the existing model by analyzing the links between prevention and intervention in the realms of social work practice and research. Starting in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the burgeoning field of social work prevention leaned heavily, if not solely, on information provision in an attempt to change behaviors and norms for youths and adults. Substance abuse prevention programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) were designed and implemented widely without knowledge of their potential for iatrogenic effects (that is, unintended negative impacts). In fact, the first research evaluations of DARE showed that the program actually increased curiosity about and use of drugs like marijuana. And no wonder! The early version of the DARE program that youths received had police passing around a bag of marijuana for students to see and smell, being told that this is what you shouldn't use. Other dramatic prevention attempts such as Scared Straight (a program that attempted to instill fear about drug use as a technique) and Shattered Dreams (a psychodramatic recreation of a fatal driving while intoxicated accident and its aftermath for high school students) made adults feel good about their efforts to prevent dangerous, high-risk behaviors and outcomes. However, subsequent research has continually found these programs to be ineffective at best and injurious at worst (Ringwalt, Ennett, & Holt, 1991; Stewart et al., 2006). Fortunately, prevention research has progressed, and we now know that effective programs have a combination of the following elements: information provision, social skills building, problem-solving techniques, resistance strategies, and self-efficacy enhancements. A prime example of a substance abuse prevention program for youths is the keepin' it REAL (kiR) program, designed in the late 1990s and declared a model program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (Marsiglia & Hecht, 2005). It has now been culturally adapted for a variety of populations and international locations (Holleran Steiker, Goldbach, Hopson, & Powell, 2011). Another exemplar, for women at risk for alcohol-related pregnancy, is Project CHOICES (Floyd et al., 2007). This program combines assessment of risky behaviors in women of childbearing age, primarily alcohol consumption and lack of contraceptive use, with a six-session program to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) in newborns. Although prevention is often categorized into primary (or universal), secondary (or selective), and tertiary (or indicated) target areas, some argue that--by definition--tertiary programs are not actually preventive because they address those individuals who are already displaying the behaviors they intend to prevent. Those who argue point believe that juncture marks a distinct delineation between prevention and intervention. However, we support the argument that tertiary prevention is a necessary component of the care continuum, because those displaying problematic behaviors are rarely open to formal treatment, much less fully aware of the need or ready for intervention. This is the theoretical foundation of the stages of change model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1992), which is currently widely embraced by the social work profession because of its attention to meeting clients exactly where they are. Rather than defining intervention programs as treatment that occurs in relation to diagnosis and comes after any failed prevention efforts, model broadens the definition to include prevention as a form of intervention before formal clinical diagnosis and treatment. …

‘Policing Schools’ Strategies: A Review of the Evaluation Evidence

Background: Schools experience a wide range of crime and disorder, victimizing students and staff, and undermining attempts to create a safe and orderly environment for student learning. Police have long established programs with schools, but there has been no systematic review of evaluations of these programs, outside of police-led prevention classroom curriculum programs such as D.A.R.E. Purpose: This paper documents a systematic search to identify experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations that assess the effectiveness of non-educational policing strategies and programs in schools. Setting: Included studies took place in or around K-12 schools in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Intervention: Studies were included if they reported on a specific school-based strategy that heavily involved police and did not exclusively involve the police teaching a curriculum or program such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). Research Design: Systematic review of experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations Data Collection and Analysis: Only those impact studies that used experimental or quasi-experimental design, had at least one outcome measure of school crime or disorder, and were available through December 2009 were eligible. Electronic searches and other methods were used to identify published and unpublished evaluation reports. Findings: The searches identified a total of eleven quasi-experimental studies. Ten of the eleven studies would likely have received a “3” on the Maryland Scientific Methods Rating Scale, a common approach to classifying studies on the basis of internal validity. If evidence rating criteria from the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) were applied, only one study would likely receive a grade of “Level 2” evidence (acceptable with reservations) and the other ten studies would likely not meet WWC evidence screening criteria. Keywords: systematic review; police and schools; crime prevention