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Prevention Science
Published in: Prevention Science 4/2012

01-08-2012

Preventing Alcohol Use with a Voluntary After-School Program for Middle School Students: Results from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of CHOICE

Authors: Elizabeth J. D’Amico, Joan S. Tucker, Jeremy N. V. Miles, Annie J. Zhou, Regina A. Shih, Harold D. Green Jr.

Published in: Prevention Science | Issue 4/2012

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Abstract

There are many mandated school-based programs to prevent adolescent alcohol and drug (AOD) use, but few are voluntary and take place outside of class time. This cluster randomized controlled trial evaluates CHOICE, a voluntary after-school program for younger adolescents, which reduced both individual- and school-level alcohol use in a previous pilot study. We evaluated CHOICE with 9,528 students from 16 middle schools. The sample was 51% female; 54% Hispanic, 17% Asian, 15% white, 9% multiethnic and 3% African American. Fifteen percent of students attended CHOICE. All students completed surveys on alcohol beliefs and use at baseline and 6–7 months later. We conducted intention-to-treat (ITT) school-level analyses and propensity-matched attender analyses. Lifetime alcohol use in the ITT analysis (i.e., school level) achieved statistical significance, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.70 and a NNT of 14.8. The NNT suggests that in a school where CHOICE was offered, 1 adolescent out of 15 was prevented from initiating alcohol use during this time period. Although not statistically significant (p = .20), results indicate that past month alcohol use was also lower in CHOICE schools (OR = 0.81; NNT = 45). Comparisons of attenders versus matched controls yielded results for lifetime use similar to school-wide effects (OR = 0.74 and NNT = 17.6). Initial results are promising and suggest that a voluntary after-school program that focuses specifically on AOD may be effective in deterring alcohol use among early adolescents; however, further research is needed as program effects were modest.
Footnotes
1
Approximately 3–5% of students used the Spanish survey version and less than 1% of students used the Korean survey version.
 
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Metadata
Title
Preventing Alcohol Use with a Voluntary After-School Program for Middle School Students: Results from a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of CHOICE
Authors
Elizabeth J. D’Amico
Joan S. Tucker
Jeremy N. V. Miles
Annie J. Zhou
Regina A. Shih
Harold D. Green Jr.
Publication date
01-08-2012
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Prevention Science / Issue 4/2012
Print ISSN: 1389-4986
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6695
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-011-0269-7

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