NCJ Number
184161
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 29 Issue: 4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 359-371
Date Published
1999
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This research explored the potential of making social skills training more accessible to schools by using computer-aided instruction.
Abstract
An easy-to-use software program called "Refusal Challenges," which targets important social skills with effective training methods, was tested. A number of studies have shown relationships between social skills deficits and the abuse of drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and heroin. The use of social skills to refuse the use of such drugs is particularly important during adolescence, since it is a time of declining parental influence, ascending peer influence, and increased mortality associated with risky behavior. In the current test of computer-aided instruction software for social skills training, the dependent measure was demonstration of refusal skills strategies. A total of 188 male and female eighth-grade students were stratified according to pre-treatment refusal skill level, gender, and teacher. They were then randomly assigned from the stratified blocks to either the computer-based refusal skills training group or a control group. Repeated measures analyses of variance indicated a significant and meaningful time by treatment interaction for refusal skills scores. The difference between treatment and control groups remained significant and meaningful at both the post-test and follow-up testing. Thus, this study shows that properly designed computer software can provide an economic, efficient, and effective means of improving student refusal skills. The "Refusal Challenges" software program apparently increased the ability of participants to use higher level refusal skills (asking questions, being assertive, providing alternatives, using facts, and predicting consequences) when challenged to do so in testing situations. Most of the improvement was maintained 6 months later. 1 figure, 5 tables, and 32 references