Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Alcohol and Drug Education.

Abstract

Though alcohol and drug education has a long history in the United States, there is continuing concern about its effectiveness. Critics of substance abuse education have suggested that it inadvertently propagates drug use, presumably by increasing students' curiosity about drug effects and by supplying students with information about how to use drugs. Narrative reviews of the literature on substance abuse education agree on two points. Evaluations of substance abuse education are generally of poor quality and they do not provide evidence that substance abuse education reduces drug use. This study applied meta-analytic techniques to the review of research in this area. A careful examination of 126 reports was made, and 33 evaluations of acceptable quality were identified. These evaluations were coded on 19 descriptive variables, and their cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes were translated to effect sizes. Finally, statistical methods were used to look for relations between the descriptive variables and the study outcomes. The meta-analysis showed that substance abuse education had its most positive effects on the knowledge and attitudes of students. Behavior was less easy to change by substance abuse education. In fact, behavioral changes measured within a week of treatment were virtually nonexistent. However, positive behavioral changes were more apparent with a longer delay in measuring outcomes. The meta-analysis also found tentative evidence that programs were more successful when peers served as leaders and when the programs were longer in duration and more intensive in focus.