Effectiveness of a New Computer-based ATOD Prevention Program Compared to a Group Version in Schools

Adolescent substance abuse has increased for 4 years (OAS, 2011). According to the Cochrane Reviews, the most successful adolescent ATOD prevention program is the Strengthening Families Program (SFP). The group classes, which parents and youth attend together, teach parenting, family and youth social skills. SFP is cost effective ($11 saved/dollar spent) (Miller & Hendrie, 2008), yet costly to administer—$500 to $1000/family for a 7-14 week group. Methods. To reduce costs to $3.50/family, a new universal 10-session Home Use SFP 8 to 16 Years DVD was created and evaluated with14,221 families who completed a confidential online survey to win prizes. A 10-ten session SFP Group version was also created and tested with families in schools as a comparison condition in a quasi-experimental repeated measures 2 group x 2 (pre-and post-test) design. 21 outcomes were measured using the SFP questionnaire. Within and between group results were analyzed using 2 x 2 ANOVAs and compared to the SFP 10- and 14-session norms. Results. Compared to the group version, the Home Use DVD outcomes revealed 18 of 21 statistically significant outcomes and almost as large Cohen's d effect sizes for parenting (d = .48 vs. 65) and family outcomes (d = .69 vs. .70), but better youth results (d = .54 vs. .48). The SFP school group results will be presented. Conclusions. Because of the positive results on substance abuse and child maltreatment, the new DVDs and school curriculum will be widely disseminated at cost to have a broader public health impact.