Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2005

Keywords

Community, Drug prevention, School, Youth substance use

Abstract

This study used key informant interviews and student survey data in 508 U.S. communities to examine relationships between the prevalence of community and non-classroom-based school substance prevention strategies and teen substance use rates. After controlling for covariates, analyses indicated that: (1) adult-supervised after-school activities were significantly related to lower past 30-day cigarette smoking and both past 30-day alcohol use and binge drinking; (2) unsupervised after-school recreational facilities were significantly associated with both lower past 30-day cigarette smoking and current daily smoking; (3) community activities to reduce substance use were significantly related to lower binge drinking; and (4) student organizations to prevent alcohol abuse were significantly related to lower binge drinking. Communities need a broad spectrum of strategies to address variation in substance use among youth. Editors' Strategic Implications: Policymakers at the school, community, state, and federal levels will benefit from knowing that after-school activities for teens typically result in reliable (though often modest) reductions in substance use in this large national sample. This is a strategy that works, but the effects are likely to vary by setting, level of supervision, substance, and program implementation. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

Journal Title

Journal of Primary Prevention

Volume

26

Issue

4

First Page

299

Last Page

320

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-005-5390-6

First Department

Social Work

Acknowledgements

Free article retrieved March 25, 2021 from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10935-005-5390-6

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