Preventing Substance Use Problems Among Young People - A Compendium of Best Practices

Section 4 - Exemplary Programs from the Scientific Literature

Alcohol Misuse Prevention Study (AMPS)

Target Population:

Universal; Grades 6 through 8, sequentially.

Setting:

School.

Theoretic Basis:

Social learning theory.

Program Description:

Focus

The focus of this program is specifically to inoculate students against the pressures of alcohol use and misuse and to reduce their increasing rate of alcohol misuse.

Objectives

The objectives of the program are: to teach students about alcohol use and misuse in their social contexts; to develop students' skills in identifying and resisting social pressure to use and misuse alcohol; and to foster positive peer support for resisting alcohol.

Activities

The activities involve the students and combine a number of teaching techniques such as: information giving, positive reinforcement, use of audio-visuals, student activity sheets, handout materials, and the development of refusal skills and practice. The program leaders strive to refute common expectations for alcohol use, to set appropriate norms, and to teach students skills in decision making and problem solving.

Contact Time:

8 - 45 minute sessions on consecutive days in Grade 6; 5 - 45 minute sessions on consecutive days in Grade 7; 4 - 45 minute sessions on consecutive days in Grade 8.

Leader Type and Training Provided:

Teachers had various training periods with weekly meetings to ensure standardization of curriculum:

• Grade 6 = 38 hours;
• Grade 7 = 28.5 hours;
• Grade 8 = 21.5 hours.

Intended Outcomes:

The rates of alcohol use increased significantly for all subgroups and were not significantly affected by the curriculum. However, the group who had previous unsupervised alcohol use showed significantly less increase than the control group. The study group also had higher curriculum knowledge than the controls.

The curriculum had a detectable difference despite pretest differences, differential attrition and lower levels of drinking. This supports the benefit of the program for students with prior unsupervised alcohol use.

Program Costs:

Not estimated, but minimal for materials, training flexible.

Author's Comments:

Attrition effects may have diminished the results: i.e., the loss of more control than curriculum students; the loss of more boys than girls; the loss of more unsupervised drinkers; the loss of heavier drinkers. Further details are available from the first or second authors.

Reviewer's Comments:

An attempt was made to standardize and monitor the implementation of the curriculum by weekly meetings, teachers' self-rated performance, staff rating of teachers several times based on defined criteria, which included a rating of student involvement and responsiveness.

Exposure to the curriculum was strictly school-based and included minimal activities for parents, and none for the community as a whole.

In terms of preventive principles reflected, the strength of this version of the AMPS program lies in life skill development in the form of skills training, problem-solving and decision-making skills and the inclusion of normative training around the use and prevalence of alcohol use and misuse.

Attention was paid to the leadership quality and the standardization of the implementation of the program, a factor that is not always acknowledged but has an impact on the results when evaluating the effectiveness of a program.

Although the intensity and duration in each year were not substantial, the fact that it was implemented in 3 consecutive years is important. In addition the program was not done on a weekly basis but on consecutive days, as preferred by the schools.

Year Program Established:

1989.

Associated Studies:

Shope, Kloska, Dielman, Maharg, Longitudinal Evaluation of an Enhanced Alcohol Misuse Prevention Study (AMPS) Curriculum for Grades Six-Eight (1994) Journal of School Health 64(4), 160-166.

Program Sponsors:

Staff: - University of Michigan faculty and staff.

Funding: - Grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Contact:

• Deborah Kloska Research Associate
  University of Michigan
  Survey Research Center
  PO Box 1248
  Ann Arbor, MI
  48106-1248
  Phone: 734-647-0587
  E-mail: ddkloska@umich.edu