NCJ Number
184421
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 45 Issue: 1 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 32-46
Date Published
1999
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This is a comprehensive survey of solvent abuse prevention materials.
Abstract
A number of prevention resources have been developed to address the problem of adolescent solvent abuse. However, very little research has been conducted on the efficacy or appropriateness of solvent abuse prevention materials. This article identifies types of prevention approaches, and presents some published solvent-specific prevention materials targeting adolescents. Of the 127 prevention materials examined, 56 were aimed at adolescents. Following identification of salient prevention messages, materials were coded according to targeted age group, ethnicity, and media format. Chi square tests were conducted to examine trends across solvent abuse prevention materials. Results suggested that specific prevention messages are often used with specific age groups, cultural content and media formats. The article suggests that a longitudinal program evaluation may be useful in examining the effectiveness of solvent prevention approaches. The evaluation program might include examination of immediate reactions to the messages themselves, a pretest-posttest design to examine the effect of exposure to various solvent abuse prevention messages on intentions to inhale solvents and investigation of the efficacy of prevention materials over time. Tables, references