Adolescent Substance Use Following Participation in a Universal Drug Prevention Program: Examining Relationships With Program Recall and Baseline Use Status

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Background: The study examined whether adolescents receiving a universal, school based, drug prevention program in Grade 7 varied, by student profile, in substance use behaviors post program implementation. Profiles were a function of recall of program receipt and substance use at baseline. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Study, a large, geographically diverse, longitudinal school-based cluster-randomized controlled trial of the Take Charge of Your Life drug prevention program. Profiles were created using self-reported substance use (preintervention) and program recall (postintervention) at Grade 7. First, characteristics of each of the 4 profiles of treatment students who varied by program recall and baseline substance use were explored. Then, multilevel logistic regression analyses were used to examine differences in the odds of substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) among student profiles at the 6 additional study waves (Time 2 [Grade 7] through Time 7 [Grade 11]). Results: Pearson's chi-square tests showed sample characteristics varied by student profile. Multilevel logistic regression results were consistent across all examined substance use behaviors at all time points. Namely, as compared with students who had no baseline substance use and had program recall (No Use, Recall), each of the remaining 3 profiles (No Use, No Recall; Use, Recall; Use, No Recall) were more likely to engage in substance use. Post hoc analyses showed that for the 2 subprofiles of baseline substance users, there were only 2 observed, and inconsistent, differences in the odds of subsequent substance use by recall status. Conclusions: Findings suggest that for students who were not baseline substance users, program recall significantly decreased the likelihood of subsequent substance use. For students who were baseline substance users, program recall did not generally influence subsequent substance use. Implications for school-based drug prevention programs are discussed.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• program recall
• substance use

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The article is adapted from a presentation made at the 2012 Sloboda and Bukoski Cup at the Society for Prevention Research Annual Meeting. We wish to thank Dr. Sloboda and the ASAPS team for making their data available, as well as Drs. Brian Flay, Alan Acock, Adam Branscum, and Samuel Vuchinich for their input on the analytic approach.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

N.B. developed the first draft of the manuscript, conducted statistical analyses, interpreted results, and led revisions. R.D. conducted statistical analyses, interpreted results, and provided edits on the manuscript. K.L. conducted statistical analyses, interpreted results, and provided edits on the manuscript. A.M. conducted statistical analyses, interpreted results, and provided edits on the manuscript. I.J.W. conducted statistical analyses, interpreted results, and provided edits on the manuscript.

Funding

Preparation of the manuscript was supported, in part, by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (T32 AA014125). The NIAAA had no further role in the composition of the manuscript. The authors report no conflicts of interest.