LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP RESULTS OF A RANDOMIZED DRUG-ABUSE PREVENTION TRIAL IN A WHITE MIDDLE-CLASS POPULATION

Objective.-To evaluate the long-term efficacy of a school-based approa ch to drug abuse prevention. Design.-Randomized trial involving 56 pub lic schools that received the prevention program with annual provider training workshops and ongoing consultation, the prevention program wi th videotaped training and no consultation, or ''treatment as usual'' (ie, controls). Follow-up data were collected 6 years after baseline u sing school, telephone, and mailed surveys. Participants.-A total of 3 597 predominantly white, 12th-grade students who represented 60.41% of the initial seventh-grade sample. Intervention.-Consisted of 15 class es in seventh grade, 10 booster sessions in eighth grade, and five boo ster sessions in ninth grade, and taught general ''life skills'' and s kills for resisting social influences to use drugs. Measures.-Six toba cco, alcohol, and marijuana use self-report scales were recoded to cre ate nine dichotomous drug use outcome variables and eight polydrug use variables. Results.-Significant reductions in both drug and polydrug use were found for the two groups that received the prevention program relative to controls. The strongest effects were produced for individ uals who received a reasonably complete version of the intervention-th ere were up to 44% fewer drug users and 66% fewer polydrug (tobacco, a lcohol, and marijuana) users. Conclusions.-Drug abuse prevention progr ams conducted during junior high school can produce meaningful and dur able reductions in tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use if they (1)teac h a combination of social resistance skills and general life skills, ( 2) are properly implemented, and (3) include at least 2 years of boost er sessions.