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Intervention

The Preventive Alcohol Education Program was developed following the tenets of inoculation theory, which postulates that an individual will better resist persuasive, threatening arguments if he or she learns the argument’s content and strategy beforehand. The program follows to the letter the two most fundamental principles of inoculation theory: 1) that participants be forewarned, or pre-exposed, to external threats by examining their content, strategy, and rationale before actual contact with them, and 2) that the subjects’ own vulnerability to attack, or persuasion, be made known to them.

The program consists of three components:

• Question-and-answer sessions cover misconceptions youths have about alcohol consumption and human performance.
• Role-playing simulations entail a variety of in-class role-plays (using both verbal and nonverbal resistance strategies) in which students read from prepared and “improvisational” scripts. After each role-play, the teacher provides students with evaluative feedback on their responses to the pressures (i.e., how to better refute or resist arguments, both verbally and using nonverbal signals).
• An evocative slideshow presentation reviews the information covered in the aforementioned two components.
  

Evaluation

The evaluation used a Solomon Four-Group experimental design. Ninth graders (n=155) from a Nebraskan high school were randomly assigned to one of four groups: pretest treatment group (n=38), pretest control group (n=46), no-pretest treatment group (n=35), or no-pretest control group (n=36). A survey instrument was developed to measure the participants’ knowledge, ability to refute pro–drinking and driving arguments, tendency to comply in risky alcohol-related situations, attitudes toward drinking and driving, and frequency of alcohol-related behavior. The posttest was administered 1 week after program completion. Six months after program completion, those who had completed a pretest and the 1-week posttest (37 experimental and 46 control) were given another posttest. A 3-year follow-up survey was administered to students who were available from the original study (n=130: 91 treatment and 39 control).

Outcome

At 1 week the researchers found a statistically significant increase in the treatment group’s knowledge, skill (ability to refute pro–drinking and driving arguments), and behavior (ability to resist risky alcohol-related situations). A favorable impact was made on the treatment group’s attitude that their drinking and driving may result in serious consequences (perceived susceptibility) and that accompanying those who drink and drive may result in serious consequences (perceived severity). The treatment group was less likely to accompany a drinking driver in a motor vehicle. There were no differences between the treatment group and the control group in drinking behavior.

The 6-month follow-up showed a significant increase in knowledge retention for the treatment group from pretest to 6-month posttest, while the control group remained the same. The treatment group exhibited significant gains in their abilities to refute new pro–drinking and driving arguments at 6 months, while the control group showed diminished abilities. The treatment also had a positive effect on compliance, and the researchers found that without it compliance decreased. The 3-year follow-up found no behavioral differences between the groups on the frequency of accompanying a drinking driver or frequency of drinking and no cognitive differences on beliefs regarding tolerance to alcohol. The control group participants actually reported drinking to excess fewer times than the treatment group, though these results were not statistically significant.

Endorsements

• SAMHSA: Model Programs

References

Duryea, Elias J. 1983. “Utilizing Tenets of Inoculation Theory to Develop and Evaluate a Preventive Alcohol Education Intervention.” JOSH 53(4):250–56.

Duryea, Elias J., P. Mohr, I.M. Newman, Gary L. Martin, and E. Egwaoje. 1984. “Six-Month Follow-Up Results of a Preventive Alcohol Education Intervention.” Journal of Drug Education 14(2):97–104.

Duryea, Elias J., and Jebose O. Okwumabua. 1988. “Effects of a Preventive Alcohol Education Program After 3 Years.” Journal of Drug Education 18(1):23–31.

Contact

Elias J. Duryea, Ph.D.
Department of Health Education
106 College of Education
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Phone: (505) 277-8187
Fax: (505) 277-6227
E-mail: duryea@unm.edu

Technical Assistance Provider

Elias J. Duryea, Ph.D.
Department of Health Education
Johnson Center, 112 D
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Phone: (505) 277-8187
Fax: (505) 277-6227
E-mail: duryea@unm.edu