Drug Resistance Strategies Project
Encyclopedia
The Drug Resistance Strategies Project (DRS), a program funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA), teaches adolescents and pre-adolescents how to make decisions and resist alcohol
, tobacco
, and other drug
s (ATOD).
The DRS project was one of the first programs to examine how adolescents refused offers of substances. Adolescent narratives revealed for resistance strategies—Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave that became known as the REAL strategies. These narratives became the basis for a multicultural school-based substance use prevention program, keepin’ it REAL (kiR). To reduce the likelihood that youth
will engage in ATOD, the kiR lessons include personal stories and language that youth
find familiar, along with teaching effective risk assessment
, decision making, communication
, and life skills including the REAL strategies. Middle
and elementary school
s are currently implementing kiR in the following states: Arizona
, Delaware
, Indiana
, Maryland
, Michigan
, Ohio
, Pennsylvania
, and Tennessee
. In 2006, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices selected kiR as a “Model Program” for its culturally grounded substance use prevention curriculum.
led them to use narrative and performance theories to study how people's personal stories promote reading
, prevent date rape
, and develop positive familial attitudes. They first obtained funding from NIDA and launched the Project (DRS1) in 1989. Initial research was conducted in two high school
s in Arizona
. With this work, Miller-Day and Hecht identified the four resistance strategies (Refuse, Avoid, Explain, and Leave) that are the core of the DRS Project. Since then the project expanded to include middle
and elementary school
students and to address ethnicity and gender
.
In 1997, Hecht moved to the Pennsylvania State University
where he continued the Drug Resistance Strategies Project in collaboration with colleagues from Arizona
. The project developed, implemented, and evaluated a middle school
prevention curriculum. More specifically, Hecht and his colleagues created keepin’ it REAL and field tested the curriculum, which they later implemented in thirty five middle schools in Phoenix
. KiR was successful in limiting use of alcohol
, tobacco
, and marijuana between 7th and 8th grades.
Starting in 2003, they have been working under a new grant
from the National Institute on Drug Abuse
. The current research concentrates on determining the best grade level to introduce the prevention program (5th vs. 7th grade), including elementary school
implementation in addition to middle school
. In addition, work on DRS4 continues the long-term study examining the relationships among acculturation
, decision-making, different types of norms
, identity
, family structure, parent-child communication, and drug use
.
, prevention science, communication
, and social work
. The publications contain all aspects covered by the project; some of them being the principle of cultural
grounding in school-based substance use prevention seen in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology
and promoting reduced and discontinued substances among adolescent substance users, seen in the Prevention Science. Some of the work done on culture can be seen through the publication on ethnicity vs. ethnic identity in assessing what predicts substance use, norms, and behavior
s, and a study of and acculturation status substance use prevention with Mexican
and Mexican American
youth, both seen in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.
The use of tobacco
, alcohol
, and marijuana was compared using a self-reported quantity
of frequency of use before the program and at two, eight, and fourteen months after students completed the curriculum
. Participants in the program reported a lower use of the three substances than the students who did not receive the program. Effects lasted for up to 14 months for alcohol
and marijuana use and up to 8 months for cigarette
s. Other analysis
show that the program works on adolescents who have started using substances before keepin’ it REAL as well as those who have not.
Anti-substance attitudes were also found to be effected by the program. At the 8 and 14-month follow-ups, the program participants reported lower expectations of positive consequences of substance use compared with students who did not receive the intervention. Although the intervention had no effect on perception
s of parental or peer norms
, students who received the program curriculum reported lower personal acceptance of drug use
for up to eight months after the intervention. When compared to the control students, students who received the Mexican American
version of the curriculum reported smaller increases in estimates of the number of their friends who used drugs.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a United States federal-government research institute whose mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."-History:...
(NIDA), teaches adolescents and pre-adolescents how to make decisions and resist alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, and other drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
s (ATOD).
The DRS project was one of the first programs to examine how adolescents refused offers of substances. Adolescent narratives revealed for resistance strategies—Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave that became known as the REAL strategies. These narratives became the basis for a multicultural school-based substance use prevention program, keepin’ it REAL (kiR). To reduce the likelihood that youth
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
will engage in ATOD, the kiR lessons include personal stories and language that youth
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
find familiar, along with teaching effective risk assessment
Risk assessment
Risk assessment is a step in a risk management procedure. Risk assessment is the determination of quantitative or qualitative value of risk related to a concrete situation and a recognized threat...
, decision making, communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
, and life skills including the REAL strategies. Middle
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
s are currently implementing kiR in the following states: Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. In 2006, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to...
's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices selected kiR as a “Model Program” for its culturally grounded substance use prevention curriculum.
History
In the 1980s, Drs. Michelle Miller-Day and Michael Hecht’s research in interpersonal and interethnic communication at Arizona State UniversityArizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
led them to use narrative and performance theories to study how people's personal stories promote reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
, prevent date rape
Date rape
"Date rape", often referred to as acquaintance rape, is an assault or attempted assault usually committed by a new acquaintance involving sexual intercourse without mutual consent....
, and develop positive familial attitudes. They first obtained funding from NIDA and launched the Project (DRS1) in 1989. Initial research was conducted in two high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. With this work, Miller-Day and Hecht identified the four resistance strategies (Refuse, Avoid, Explain, and Leave) that are the core of the DRS Project. Since then the project expanded to include middle
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
students and to address ethnicity and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
.
In 1997, Hecht moved to the Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
where he continued the Drug Resistance Strategies Project in collaboration with colleagues from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The project developed, implemented, and evaluated a middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
prevention curriculum. More specifically, Hecht and his colleagues created keepin’ it REAL and field tested the curriculum, which they later implemented in thirty five middle schools in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. KiR was successful in limiting use of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, and marijuana between 7th and 8th grades.
Starting in 2003, they have been working under a new grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
from the National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a United States federal-government research institute whose mission is to "lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction."-History:...
. The current research concentrates on determining the best grade level to introduce the prevention program (5th vs. 7th grade), including elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
implementation in addition to middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
. In addition, work on DRS4 continues the long-term study examining the relationships among acculturation
Acculturation
Acculturation explains the process of cultural and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. The effects of acculturation can be seen at multiple levels in both interacting cultures. At the group level, acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and...
, decision-making, different types of norms
Informal Social Control
Informal social control, or the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws, includes peer and community pressure, bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups. The agents of the criminal justice system exercise more...
, identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
, family structure, parent-child communication, and drug use
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
.
Results
The findings from this project are in numerous journals of healthHealth
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, prevention science, communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
, and social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
. The publications contain all aspects covered by the project; some of them being the principle of cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
grounding in school-based substance use prevention seen in the Journal of Language and Social Psychology
Journal of Language and Social Psychology
Journal of Language and Social Psychology is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of Communication and Psychology. The journal's editor is Howard Giles...
and promoting reduced and discontinued substances among adolescent substance users, seen in the Prevention Science. Some of the work done on culture can be seen through the publication on ethnicity vs. ethnic identity in assessing what predicts substance use, norms, and behavior
Behavior
Behavior or behaviour refers to the actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial entities in conjunction with its environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the physical environment...
s, and a study of and acculturation status substance use prevention with Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
and Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
youth, both seen in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.
The use of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, and marijuana was compared using a self-reported quantity
Quantity
Quantity is a property that can exist as a magnitude or multitude. Quantities can be compared in terms of "more" or "less" or "equal", or by assigning a numerical value in terms of a unit of measurement. Quantity is among the basic classes of things along with quality, substance, change, and relation...
of frequency of use before the program and at two, eight, and fourteen months after students completed the curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
. Participants in the program reported a lower use of the three substances than the students who did not receive the program. Effects lasted for up to 14 months for alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and marijuana use and up to 8 months for cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s. Other analysis
Analysis
Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle , though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.The word is...
show that the program works on adolescents who have started using substances before keepin’ it REAL as well as those who have not.
Anti-substance attitudes were also found to be effected by the program. At the 8 and 14-month follow-ups, the program participants reported lower expectations of positive consequences of substance use compared with students who did not receive the intervention. Although the intervention had no effect on perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
s of parental or peer norms
Informal Social Control
Informal social control, or the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws, includes peer and community pressure, bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups. The agents of the criminal justice system exercise more...
, students who received the program curriculum reported lower personal acceptance of drug use
Drug use
Drug use may refer to any drug use; or:* Drug abuse* Drug addiction* Entheogenic drug use* Medication* Performance-enhancing drug use* Recreational drug use* Self medication...
for up to eight months after the intervention. When compared to the control students, students who received the Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
version of the curriculum reported smaller increases in estimates of the number of their friends who used drugs.