title: Prevention of illicit drug use through a school-based program: results of a longitudinal, cluster-randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the long-term effects of an illicit drug use prevention program for adolescents that integrates life skills into the theory of planned behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in which 24 participating schools were randomized to either an intervention group (12 schools, n = 1,176 students) or a control group (12 schools, n = 915 students). Participants were grade 7 students. The intervention comprised a main intervention of 10 sessions and two booster interventions. Booster 1 (four sessions) and booster 2 (two sessions) were performed at 6 months and 12 months, respectively, after completion of the main intervention. Assessments were made at baseline, after the main intervention, and after each booster session using specific questionnaires for measuring participants' attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and life skills.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Retention rates were 71.9% (845/1,176) in the intervention group and 90.7% (830/915) in the control group after the 12-month follow-up. A significantly lower proportion of intervention group participants reported illicit drug use after the first and second booster sessions compared with control group participants (.1% vs. 1.7% and .2% vs. 1.7%, respectively; both p < .05). Attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, life skills, and behavioral intention scores of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of control group after the first and second booster sessions (all p < .001), suggesting that intervention group students tended to avoid drug use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A drug use prevention program integrating life skills into the theory of planned behavior may be effective for reducing illicit drug use and improving planned behavior-related constructs in adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jong-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tzu-Chi
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jung-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: cmhuang@ym.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chiu-Mieh
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: Behavioral intention; Booster session; Illicit drug use prevention program; Life skills; Perceived behavioral control; Theory of planned behavior