VIDEO: Prevention programs use ‘social connection’ to effectively address substance abuse

ORLANDO — Primary prevention programs for substance abuse should use strategies like those aimed at stress management and navigation of group dynamics, according to a speaker the Lifestyle Medicine Conference.

“Our school is known for a high rate of overdoses,” Kaitlyn Tollefson, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder, told Healio. “With this, we see a lot of prevention programs come up... [but] there’s still the remaining question of how do we make sure that it doesn’t get this bad.”

In an evidence review, Tollefson and Michelle Tollefson, MD, FACOG, DipABLM, FACLM, a professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, examined dozens of studies on substance abuse prevention programs to assess their impact and specific components.

They found that the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program had no significant effect on substance abuse in 92% of studies.

In contrast, the LifeSkills Training program had positive results in all but one study, with 60% showing it reduced the use of at least one risky substance and 40% showing it reduced more.

The researchers noted that commonalities between effective programs included stress management lessons, the avoidance of fear-mongering tactics and a focus on how individuals navigate the dynamics of a group compared with just saying no.

Ultimately, “we see a really high trend towards using social connection and also looking at it in a way that we’ve started to look at risky sexual behavior,” Tollefson said.

Reference:

• Tollefson K, Tollefson M. Substance misuse and young people: Outlining the impacts of prevention programs. Presented at: Lifestyle Medicine Conference; Oct. 27-30, 2024; Orlando.