The effectiveness of substance abuse prevention videotapes with Mexican American adolescents

The effectiveness of three substance abuse prevention videotapes derived fr om contrasting theoretical frameworks war experimentally evaluated on commo n prevention outcomes and measures of theoretical relevance. Seventh and ei ghth graders were stratified on gender and classroom before being randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions. In a modified replication, ninth graders were assessed and treated in a concentrated time span. Parti cipants were 312 students. A series of 2 x 2 x 4 (Replication x Gender x Tr eatment) ANCOVAs permitted an inspection of the construct validity of emerg ing effects. Although the assertion-training video produced significantly h igher levels of assertiveness among ninth graders, the other two videos (de rived from information-programming and help-seeking rationales) did not reg ister effects on specific measures of high theoretical relevance, A lack of posttest differences on the common outcomes may be due to low intended con sumption levels displayed by participants and/or floor and ceiling effects encountered on outcome measures.