An Effectiveness Trial of Project ALERT - Full Text View

Sponsored by:	Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
Information provided by:	Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00650585

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to replicate a longitudinal evaluation of Project ALERT, a substance abuse prevention program that targets middle school students.

Condition	Intervention
Alcohol Drinking Smoking Marijuana Smoking	Behavioral: Project ALERT

MedlinePlus related topics: Alcohol Consumption Marijuana Smoking Smoking and Youth

Drug Information available for: Cannabis GW-1000 Ethanol

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:	Interventional
Study Design:	Prevention, Randomized, Single Blind (Subject), Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title:	Promising Programs for Substance Abuse Prevention: Replication and Evaluation Initiative

Further study details as provided by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation:

Primary Outcome Measures:

Substance use (30-day and lifetime use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, inhalants) [ Time Frame: measured approximately 30 days after intervention completed and 1 year later ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Mediators of substance use (resistance self-efficacy, beliefs about drug use consequences, perceived peer influence, expectations of future use) [ Time Frame: measured approximately 30 days after intervention completed and 1 year later ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment:	6043
Study Start Date:	May 2004
Study Completion Date:	June 2008
Primary Completion Date:	June 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Arms	Assigned Interventions
Control group: No Intervention Did not receive Project ALERT
Treatment group: Experimental Received Project ALERT	Behavioral: Project ALERT Project ALERT (Adolescent Learning Experiences in Resistance Training) is a drug prevention curriculum designed for middle-school students (11 to 14 years old). The 11 lessons in the first year and 3 booster lessons in the second year focus on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants - the substances that adolescents are most likely to use. Project ALERT uses participatory activities and videos to help motivate youth to avoid drug use, to teach youth skills and strategies to resist peer pressures to use drugs, and to establish social norms against drug-use. More information about Project ALERT may be found at http://www.projectalert.best.org/.

Arms

Assigned Interventions

Control group: No Intervention

Did not receive Project ALERT

Treatment group: Experimental

Received Project ALERT

Behavioral: Project ALERT

Project ALERT (Adolescent Learning Experiences in Resistance Training) is a drug prevention curriculum designed for middle-school students (11 to 14 years old). The 11 lessons in the first year and 3 booster lessons in the second year focus on alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and inhalants - the substances that adolescents are most likely to use. Project ALERT uses participatory activities and videos to help motivate youth to avoid drug use, to teach youth skills and strategies to resist peer pressures to use drugs, and to establish social norms against drug-use. More information about Project ALERT may be found at http://www.projectalert.best.org/.

Detailed Description:

Project ALERT is a substance abuse prevention program that targets middle school students. The purposes of this evaluation are to test its immediate and one-year effectiveness in a randomized experimental design that will span a total of 2.5 years for each of two cohorts. The cohorts are spaced one year apart to reduce our implementation and data collection burdens at any one time. The design for the two cohorts is identical. In schools randomly assigned to the treatment group, instructors receive Project ALERT training and materials prior to beginning the program and have access to technical assistance on request. In schools randomly assigned to the control group, teachers implement whatever substance abuse prevention curricula they normally would (if any).

Eligibility

Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	Yes

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

schools with 6th-8th grades housed together on a common campus
schools with 6th grade student population of at least 100 students
schools with no current 6th, 7th, or 8th grade implementation of any drug prevention curriculum recognized as a model program by a federally-sponsored registry
all regular education students in the targeted grade must participate

Exclusion Criteria:

students in self-contained classrooms (i.e., special education classes)

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00650585

Locations

United States, North Carolina
Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27514

Sponsors and Collaborators

Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation

Investigators

Principal Investigator:	Chris L Ringwalt, DrPH	Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation
Study Director:	Heddy K Clark, Ph.D.	Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation

More Information

Project ALERT website This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Responsible Party:	Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation ( Chris Ringwalt/Senior Research Scientist )
Study ID Numbers:	2003-DR-FX-001, 2007-JF-FX-0064
Study First Received:	March 31, 2008
Last Updated:	October 9, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00650585
Health Authority:	United States: Institutional Review Board

Keywords provided by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation:

smoking
alcohol
prevention
prevention & control

Study placed in the following topic categories:

Smoking
Drinking Behavior
Alcohol Drinking

Marijuana Smoking
Marijuana Abuse
Ethanol

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Habits

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on January 16, 2009