CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF PREVENTION EDUCATION ON SUBSTANCE USE AMONG 11TH GRADE STUDENTS IN OHIO

This article examines participation in school-based prevention educati on activities from a statewide sample of with grade students in Ohio. About 42% of subjects indicated they had never been involved in a prev ention education activity. Differences existed in mean number of activ ities by both gender and White/nonWhite status. Popular prevention edu cation activities included participation in D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resis tance Education) at elementary, junior high, and senior high levels; ' 'Just Say No Clubs''; Quest; and Red Ribbon Week Only a small proporti on of youth participated exclusively in any one of these activities. A n association existed between student participation in prevention educ ation and level of drug involvement. Students in each activity had low er mean scores for drug involvement when compared to students who had never participated in a prevention education activity. Also, the lowes t mean scores occurred among students who had participated in multiple prevention activities.