The RST program is perhaps the most popular form of alcohol misuse prevention strategy currently used in schools. This approach came to dominate school-based prevention in the early 1980's, following the publication of research studies that show the ineffectiveness of existing "knowledge-based" and "affective" programs and, perhaps more importantly, through the high profile political support it was able to attract. This review focuses on how effective RST programs are in reducing alcohol misuse among participants. The review includes only those studies that used a research design that involved some form of comparison group and that assessed outcome in terms of alcohol use rather than attitudes that may bear no relationship to actual behavior. It assesses the consistency of the RST strategy in reducing alcohol misuse across all 16 studies published since 1980 that fit the selection criteria. The majority of these studies show that RST programs, although not detrimental, had little or no effect on participants' drinking behavior at follow-up. In the few studies that reported a positive effect from RST programs, the positive effects were experienced by subgroups of the target population. This review discusses why such programs were ineffective and offers suggestions regarding the direction of future primary prevention research. 1 table and 60 references