A Description and Evaluation of TRENDS: A Substance Abuse Education Program for Sixth Graders

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Abstract
A substance abuse education program (TRENDS) for sixth grade students was evaluated in this study. Twenty-five classrooms of students were randomly assigned to either the experimental education programs or the no-treatment condition. The experimental classrooms were objectively taught information on substance abuse by either their regular teachers or teams of two specially trained teenagers. One- half of these instructors used a standard lecture method while the other teachers and teenagers employed a specially designed values program which imbedded the information within values clarification exercises. Both sixth graders and adults who worked with them strongly favored the use of teenagers over teachers. There was a modest preference for the values clarification method. A knowledge test given before and after the program did not reveal any significant difference among instructors or methods. It did show a significant improvement for the experimental groups over the no-treatment group.

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