NCJ Number
209598
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 49 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 33-53
Date Published
March 2005
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the second year outcomes of the Protecting You/Protecting Me (PY/PM) alcohol prevention and traffic safety curriculum for elementary school students.
Abstract
Underage alcohol use has been associated with a host of deleterious outcomes, including poor academic performance and risky sexual behavior. However, few elementary school-based programs provide information about the effects of alcohol on the developing brain and self-protection for children. The current study evaluated the replicability of immediate positive effects of the PY/PM program in grades 3 through 5 for first-year exposure to the curriculum and assessed the learning retention and cumulative effects of second-year exposure to the 5-year curriculum for elementary school students. Participants were 24 third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms that were randomly assigned to the PY/PM program and a comparison group of 24 classrooms that were not assigned to the curriculum. Pre- and post-surveys measuring self-protective knowledge were administered to 612 students in the intervention group and 612 students in the comparison group. Results of repeated measures of analysis of variance indicated the effectiveness of utilizing a multi-year curriculum approach for elementary school students. Students in the intervention group made larger gains in Media Literacy and Vehicle Safety Skills than their counterparts in the comparison group. Students who had 2 years of intervention curriculum scored higher on Vehicle Safety Skills in the pre-survey and made greater advancements across the post-survey than did comparison students. Future research should focus on the consistency with which this program is disseminated to other schools. Tables, references