Six-months follow-up results of a preventive alcohol education intervention

An alcohol education program was designed to increase the knowledge of alcohol's effects upon performance, increase ability of students to refute pro-drinking and driving arguments, and decrease likelihood of complying with pressure to participate in alcohol-related situations. Films, slides, discussion and role playing activities were included in the program administered to 155 ninth grade students in Nebraska. The objectives were measured through written tests administered in a pre, post and six-month follow-up sequence. An ANOVA performed on the posttests indicated that the experimental group scored significantly more favorably on knowledge, refuting arguments, compliance and riding with drinking drivers. A repeated measures ANOVA using the scores of students who received pre, post, and follow-up tests (N=83) showed that the knowledge, refutation and compliance scores of the experimental group continued to be significantly more favorable six months later.