A high school-based education concerning drug abuse prevention

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: There is increasing evidence for declining the onset age of drug abuse worldwide. This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of four educational methods including lecture, presentation of poster and leaflet, presentation of video clip, and group/class discussion for life skills training and changing in knowledge and attitude of adolescents toward drug abuse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a pretest-posttest design, a sample of 897 girl and boy high school students from the first grade (14-15 years old) were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted in Isfahan, Iran. After collection of pretest questionnaires, each educational method was implemented separately for one class in one session (3 h) in each high school, and evaluation was carried out immediately after intervention through posttest questionnaires by the same students. RESULTS: According to paired t-test, the video clip- and lecture-based methods were significantly efficient in changing the attitudes toward drug abuse in boy and girl students, respectively. Analysis of covariance showed significant differences between girls and boys in pretest-posttest attitude scores using group discussion-based and video clip-based methods. CONCLUSION: Life skills training program through lecture-based and video clip-based educational methods was considerably effective in changing the high school students' attitude toward drug abuse and addiction.