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Long Term Effects of Drug Education in Two Populations of Colorado Students: A Report to the Colorado Department of Education

NCJ Number
165209
Author(s)
R L Dukes
Date Published
1993
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This report analyzes the long-term effects of drug education on Colorado students through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E.).
Abstract
Data were collected from two populations of ninth grade students. One population was the entire ninth grade in a large school district in Colorado Springs. Students in this population participated in a quasi-experiment in which D.A.R.E. was administered to students in 21 schools, and it was withheld from students in 17 schools during spring of 1990. These students were surveyed in November 1992 during the third academic year after they completed D.A.R.E. The other population was the entire ninth grade in a medium-sized school district in the Denver metropolitan area. Students in this population were not part of a quasi-experiment. They were surveyed in May 1993. Approximately 3 years after completion of D.A.R.E., students in both populations participated in an anonymous survey in which they were asked questions about their exposure to D.A.R.E. and to other programs of drug education. In an earlier report, the effects of D.A.R.E. were examined on indexes of self-esteem; resistance to peer pressure; delay of onset of experimentation with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and use of mainstream drugs, outsider drugs, and marijuana. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and the control groups for the Colorado Springs population. In the current report, the effects of D.A.R.E. on these indexes were examined for the Denver population. The Denver population had not participated in a quasi-experiment, but about half of the ninth grade high school students reported that they had received the program in middle school. No statistically significant differences were observed between students who reported having received D.A.R.E. and those who said they had not received it. This report extends the earlier analyses by examining the effects of D.A.R.E. on eight additional measures: self-concept of academic ability, purpose in life, friction with parents, positive orientation toward school, gang delinquency, traditional deviance, attitudes toward police, and perceived risk in using alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. For the Colorado Springs population, no statistically significant differences were found between the experimental group and the control group on the eight indexes. The findings from both short- term and long-term evaluations of D.A.R.E. are consistent with a strategy of extending drug education through high school. 5 tables and 6 references