Effectiveness of culturally focused and generic skills training approaches to alcohol and drug abuse prevention among minority youths.

TLDR

The study randomized 639 seventh‑grade minority students from six New York City schools to receive either a generic skills‑training program, a culturally focused program, or an information‑only control to evaluate alcohol and drug abuse prevention. Both prevention programs reduced students’ future intentions to drink beer or wine compared with controls, and the generic skills‑training approach also lowered intentions to drink hard liquor and use illicit drugs while both programs positively affected mediating variables associated with nondrug use.

Abstract

The authors tested the effectiveness of 2 alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs among inner-city minority 7th-grade students (N = 639) from 6 New York City public schools. Schools were randomly assigned to receive (a) a generic skills training prevention approach, (b) a culturally focused prevention approach, or (c) an information-only control. Results indicate that students in both prevention approaches had lower intentions to drink beer or wine in the future relative to students in the control group. The generic skills training approach also showed promise in terms of intention to drink hard liquor and use illicit drugs. Both prevention programs influenced several mediating variables in a direction consistent with nondrug use. The study provides preliminary support for the 2 approaches with respect to alcohol and drug use prevention among minority youths in New York City.