Drug Use Prevention Efforts at Colleges and Universities in the United States

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which program comprehensiveness, programmatic outcomes, program integration, and environmental factors are being addressed by 336 urban and rural United States college and university drug use prevention programs. College-based prevention programs employed a range of programmatic goals, prevention communication channels, and prevention strategies within a centralized department for drug use prevention. Most program coordinators reported no perceived change in alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, alcohol/drug-related problems, faculty/staff drug use, and alcohol and drug-related crime resulting from prevention efforts on campus. The level of prevention activity differed across institutional type.

Drug Misuse Among University Students in the UK: Implications for Prevention

“…Finally, a method used by universities in the United States for tackling drug misuse is through health screening and monitoring (Werch, Pappas, & Castellon-Vogel, 1996). Monitoring methods can be used to identify students at risk as well as providing appropriate responses.…”

Personality-Targeted Interventions for Substance Use and Misuse

“…Reviews of school-based drug prevention programmes conclude that the majority of such interventions are universal drug awareness programmes that are either untested or that have only mild positive or even harmful effects [38, 39, 40]. There has been much more systematic research on effective prevention of hazardous drinking in undergraduates [41, 42].…”

Group-based motivational interviewing for alcohol use among college students: An exploratory study.

“…Although easy to deliver, traditional primary prevention interventions are not often considered effective by college substance abuse prevention coordinators in changing alcohol consumption or reducing alcohol-related problems (Werch, Pappas, & Castellon-Vogel, 1996), and broad-based drug prevention initiatives may relate to increased drinking (Werch & Owen, 2002). Social norms campaigns have become a popular primary prevention strategy across the past 10 years.…”