What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review

Background: Considerable attention has been focused on the impact of young people's alcohol use. To address this, schools often implement alcohol and drug education and there are many potential programmes to choose from. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify evidence-based alcohol ed...

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Main Authors: Lee, Nicole, Cameron, J., Battams, S., Roche, A.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/54977
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author Lee, Nicole
Cameron, J.
Battams, S.
Roche, A.
author_facet Lee, Nicole
Cameron, J.
Battams, S.
Roche, A.
author_sort Lee, Nicole
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Considerable attention has been focused on the impact of young people's alcohol use. To address this, schools often implement alcohol and drug education and there are many potential programmes to choose from. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify evidence-based alcohol education programmes for schools. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of school-based programmes that targeted alcohol within a school setting and included at least one alcohol behaviour or knowledge change outcome. Six-hundred seventy-five abstracts were screened resulting in 454 studies assessed for eligibility, with 70 studies, evaluating 40 individual programmes, included in the final review. Results: Of the 40 programmes, 3 had good evidence of a positive effect. They included CLIMATE Schools (Australia), Project ALERT (USA) and All Stars (USA). Of the others, 4 showed some evidence of positive effect, 1 had no evidence of effect, 29 were inconclusive and 2 showed negative outcomes, such as increases in alcohol use. Although many programmes were evaluated, very few had sufficient evidence to be able to endorse their widespread implementation in schools. Conclusion: Three programmes included in the review had sufficient positive outcomes to be recommended for implementation, and four showed good outcomes in some areas. Schools should consider these results when deciding on introducing alcohol education. Overall, the evidence base is broad but relatively weak and further research is required, focusing on programmes identified as having good or potentially good outcomes.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-549772018-12-14T01:02:22Z What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review Lee, Nicole Cameron, J. Battams, S. Roche, A. Background: Considerable attention has been focused on the impact of young people's alcohol use. To address this, schools often implement alcohol and drug education and there are many potential programmes to choose from. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify evidence-based alcohol education programmes for schools. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of school-based programmes that targeted alcohol within a school setting and included at least one alcohol behaviour or knowledge change outcome. Six-hundred seventy-five abstracts were screened resulting in 454 studies assessed for eligibility, with 70 studies, evaluating 40 individual programmes, included in the final review. Results: Of the 40 programmes, 3 had good evidence of a positive effect. They included CLIMATE Schools (Australia), Project ALERT (USA) and All Stars (USA). Of the others, 4 showed some evidence of positive effect, 1 had no evidence of effect, 29 were inconclusive and 2 showed negative outcomes, such as increases in alcohol use. Although many programmes were evaluated, very few had sufficient evidence to be able to endorse their widespread implementation in schools. Conclusion: Three programmes included in the review had sufficient positive outcomes to be recommended for implementation, and four showed good outcomes in some areas. Schools should consider these results when deciding on introducing alcohol education. Overall, the evidence base is broad but relatively weak and further research is required, focusing on programmes identified as having good or potentially good outcomes. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/54977 10.1177/0017896915612227 Sage Publications restricted
spellingShingle Lee, Nicole
Cameron, J.
Battams, S.
Roche, A.
What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title_full What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title_fullStr What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title_full_unstemmed What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title_short What works in school-based alcohol education: A systematic review
title_sort what works in school-based alcohol education: a systematic review
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/54977