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Research-Based Prevention Strategies

The following strategies have been identified by Congress (in the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant legislation) as strategies that prevention programs can use to increase protective and risk factors and reduce the impact of risks. In the first two strategies, communication is the primary activity; in the other four, communication is a secondary activity.

1. Information dissemination is primarily one-way communication that increases awareness and knowledge. The distribution of educational materials by a substance abuse prevention clearinghouse is an example of information dissemination.
2. Education/Skills Building is two-way communication that increases knowledge and develops critical analytic skills, judgment, and life and social skills. A parenting class is an example of education/skills building.
3. Alternatives feature activities designed to exclude and discourage the use of alcohol (as well as tobacco and illicit drugs) by offsetting the attraction to or meeting the needs often filled by alcohol. Alternative activities might include long-term youth programs or youth leadership activities.
4. Environmental strategies include activities that establish or change formal or informal community standards, codes, and behaviors affecting the shared environment in which people encounter threats to their health from alcohol. Normative education is an example of this strategy that focuses on correcting the erroneous perceptions about the prevalence and acceptability of alcohol use and on establishing conservative (and truthful) group norms by instilling the belief that most young people do not use alcohol. Another example of this strategy is the creation and maintenance of an alcohol- and drug-free park.
5. Community-based process is characterized by planning, organizing, collaborating, and coalition-building activities aimed at enhancing the community’s ability to more effectively provide substance abuse prevention and treatment services. For instance, collaborative multiagency planning and resource sharing is an example of a community-based process.
6. Problem identification and referral is the early identification of those engaging in illegal, age inappropriate, or potentially risky substance use in order to determine if their behavior can be reversed through education or other preventative strategies. An example of problem identification and referral is an alcohol and drug education class for youth caught with alcohol in their possession.