3-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF DRUG-ABUSE-RESISTANCE-EDUCATION (DARE)

The long-term effectiveness of D.A.R.E. was assessed by contrasting 9t h-grade students who received the program in the 6th grade with others who did not receive the program. Of 38 elementary school eligible for D.A.R.E. programs, 21 received the program and 17 did not. A follow-u p survey assessed central D.A.R.E. concepts such as self-esteem, resis tance to peer pressure, delay of experimentation with drugs, and drug use. Employing latent variables to represent the concepts, no signific ant differences were found between D.A.R.E. participants and control. The authors discuss attenuation of effects and the generally antidrug context of schools.