ONE-YEAR OUTCOME EVALUATION OF AN ALCOHOL AND DRUG-ABUSE PREVENTION PROGRAM IN A QUEBEC HIGH-SCHOOL

This article presents the results of a one-year outcome evaluation of a school-based alchol- and drug-abuse prevention program targeting ado lescents in Quebec. This evaluation concerns the school component of t he program and includes the first seven classroom interventions. The d esign is a pre- and post-intervention assessment of both the experimen tal (n = 145 students) and the control school ( n = 179 students). Res ults obtained do not reveal any significant effect of the program on k nowledge and beliefs regarding the use of alcohol and drugs, or any mo dification in self-efficacy with respect to decision making and abilit y to resist external pressure concerning the decision to use marijuana /hashish. The results do show, however, a decrease among the exposed s tudents in self-efficacy within the context of alcohol use. Such a res ult may be a consequence of the program's capacity to raise the studen t's level of awareness of their susceptibility to social influences. I t is plausible that in order to have positive effects, classroom inter ventions such as the present one need to be supplemented bu additional activities targeting youths' environment.