Three-Year Follow-Up of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)

• NCJ Number: 162525
• Journal: Evaluation Review Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1996) Pages: 49-66
• Author(s): R L Dukes; J B Ullman; J A Stein
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 18 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA01070
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

The long-term effectiveness of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program is assessed in a follow-up survey.

Abstract

The long-term effectiveness of DARE is assessed by contrasting ninth-grade students who received the program in the sixth grade with others who did not receive the program. The follow-up survey assesses central DARE concepts such as self-esteem, resistance to peer pressure, delay of experimentation with drugs, and drug use. Employing latent variables to represent the concepts, no significant differences are found between DARE participants and controls. The authors also discuss attenuation of effects and the generally antidrug context of schools. Results of this study coincide with earlier research, which showed that any effects of DARE were, for the most part, immediate; effectiveness over the longer term produced inconsistent results, with most results indicating very little effect. The article includes background information on DARE participants and control students, survey form design, analysis of survey procedures and results, and suggested changes. Figures, table, references