Keywords

Prevention, substance abuse, intervention

Abstract

The International School Project (ISP) developed a culturally-relevant intervention entitled The Future Begins Today (FBT) to address the need for school-based substance abuse prevention in Ukraine. Using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with control group design, this study evaluated the effectiveness of this intervention in regards to impact on attitudes and refusal self-efficacy. The study hypothesized that exposure to the FBT intervention would significantly increase adolescents' perceived harm of substance use and perceived ability to refuse drug offers. Students from three schools in Drohobych (N = 173) participated in the study between September and December 2013, with seven classes (n = 124) enrolled in the FBT course and three classes (n = 49) in the control group. Both groups were tested in September and December. ANOVA results suggested that between September and December, students in the FBT program statistically significantly increased their perceived harm of occasional substance use and perceived ability to refuse drug offers. There was no significant change in students' perceived harm of frequent use. Moreover, the extent to which FBT supplementary materials were incorporated also related positively with program outcomes. Qualitative data from follow-up written interviews supported these findings. Regression analyses showed that older students were less likely to perceive substance use as harmful. There were no significant relationships between program outcomes and gender, positive family influence, or negative peer influence. Relevance to the existing literature and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2014

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Hoffman, Bobby

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Education and Human Performance

Department

Teaching, Learning, and Leadership

Degree Program

Applied Learning and Instruction

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005170

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005170

Language

English

Release Date

May 2014

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education and Human Performance; Education and Human Performance -- Dissertations, Academic

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