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Intervention helped reduce alcohol use among adolescents

A school-based alcohol prevention program reduced the odds of drinking among high-risk students by 29%, according to study results published in JAMA Psychiatry.

“Universal school-based prevention programs attempt to enhance resilience in young people by increasing knowledge about the harms of alcohol misuse and promote better coping skills among children and their parents,” the researchers wrote.

Patricia J. Conrod, PhD, of the department of psychiatry at the Universite de Montreal, and colleagues reported on the 24-month outcomes of the Teacher-Delivered Personality-Targeted Interventions for Substance Misuse trial, in which school personnel — including teachers, mentors and educational specialists — were trained to counsel students with one of four high-risk profiles: anxiety sensitivity, hopelessness, impulsivity, and sensation seeking. The intervention consisted of two 90-minute group sessions targeting one of the four personality factors.

Twenty-one secondary schools in London participated in the study. Both high-risk (n=1,210) and low-risk (n=1,433) adolescents took part in the intervention. The intervention outcome was compared with treatment as usual. Students were assessed for drinking, binge drinking and problem drinking at baseline and at 6-month intervals for 2 years.

Among high-risk students, the school-based intervention was associated with 29% reduced odds of drinking (OR=0.71; 95% CI, 0.51-0.99), 43% reduced odds of binge drinking (OR=0.57; 95% CI, 0.41-0.80) and 29% reduced odds of problem drinking (OR=0.71; 95% CI, 0.53-0.94) vs. students in the control group.

Conrod and colleagues also observed a herd effect on low-risk students who were not included in the intervention, specifically on drinking rates (P=.049) and growth of binge drinking (P=.001).

“Considering the enormous costs of alcohol misuse to society and the brief and inexpensive nature of this targeted program, nationwide implementation could potentially translate to substantial savings to the public,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of financial disclosures.