An exploration of patterns of drug use and of the effectiveness of a substance abuse prevention program according to adolescents' level of academic achievement

In this study, the relationship between drug use and attitudes toward drugs and level of academic achievement was explored. Associations between gender and drug use and race and drug use were also examined within achievement levels. In addition, the effectiveness of a substance abuse prevention program was assessed among each of the three achievement groups.;Participants in this study were sixth grade students from the Fayette County (KY) school system in the 1987-1988 school year. They were randomly assigned at the school level to either the treatment condition, which received the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, or the comparison condition, which was exposed to the drug unit in the existing health curriculum. Students were classified as high, average, or low achievers based on their scores on achievement tests administered during their sixth grade year. Data was collected prior to the students' initial exposure to their respective conditions. Additional information was gathered from the participants at posttest and annually through their sophomore year in high school.;The effects of achievement and of participation in the intervention were calculated on seven dependent variables: past year use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; attitudes toward drug use in general; and attitudes about cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana, specifically. Chi-square tests and analyses of covariance were used to analyze the data. The results of chi-square tests indicated significant associations between drug use and achievement. However, few significant differences were found between achievement groups when analyses of covariance were used to control for demographic variables associated with drug use. High achieving students held significantly more negative attitudes toward drug use in general and toward marijuana use specifically. While few significant associations were observed between gender and drug use, significant associations between drug use and race were found for low and average achieving students. Analyses of the effectiveness of the intervention found few differences between students in the treatment and comparison conditions on the drug use variables. However, short-term effects on attitudes were observed for average and low achieving students.