Adolescent Drug Abuse Prevention in the Workplace

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Phase I SBIR application requests six months of funding to develop and evaluate a commercial-quality prevention curriculum for adolescents in workplace settings based on the theoretical foundation of a state-of-the-art substance abuse prevention program called LifeSkills Training (1ST). Although there have been a number of important advances in workplace prevention programming in the past 20 years, workplace drug prevention programs for adolescents have not been systematically developed and tested. There is a lack of research-based prevention programs that are available for adolescents in workplace settings, and most existing workplace drug prevention programs are targeted cessation interventions for substance abusing employees. It is increasingly recognized that workplace prevention curricula must be tailored to the developmental needs of adolescent employees, and that the needs of older employees differ substantially from those of younger employees. Many existing programs have not been evaluated, have had limited success and/or do not adequately address adolescent developmental issues that arise during entry into the workforce. There is a clear gap and need for effective theoretically-based workplace drug prevention programs designed specifically for adolescents that emphasize skills training and normative education. Previous research has shown that the model prevention program, Life Skills Training (LST), produces positive behavioral effects on adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use through the end of high school, prevention effects on antisocial behavior, as well as effects on risk behaviors not directly addressed in the drug prevention intervention (e.g., risky driving). In the proposed study, we will investigate how participation in an effective young adult workplace prevention program impacts drug risk taking behaviors, stress management and improved job performance.