COMMUNITY-BASED MEDIA PREVENTION CAMPAIGN

THE GOAL IS TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE A MEDIA CAMPAIGN THAT WILL HELP IN THE PREVENTION OF DRUG USE IN SMALLER COMMUNITIES WHERE LOCAL RESOURCES ARE LIMITED. A LOCAL SURVEY WILL BE GIVEN TO ASSESS ADOLESCENT DRUG USE, AND THE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE INPUT FOR COMPUTER PROGRAMS THAT PRODUCE MEDIA MATERIALS FOR A YEAR-LONG CAMPAIGN, INCLUDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLES; PAMPHLETS; VISUALS AND OUTLINES FOR PRESENTATIONS TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, PARENT GROUPS, ANDSERVICE CLUBS; NEWSPAPER ADS; BILLBOARDS; RADIO SPOTS; POSTERS; AND A COMMUNITY PREVENTION MANUAL. ALL MEDIA MESSAGES WILL INCLUDE LOCAL DATA AND LOCAL REFERENCES. THE IMPACT WILL BE TESTED IN A TRUE EXPERIMENT WITH BLOCKING AND RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF 20 PAIRS OF COMMUNITIES. STANDARD ADVERTISING METHODS WILL BE USED TO TEST EXPOSURE AND PERCEPTION OF MEDIA (MALL SURVEY). THE IMMEDIATE GOALS OF THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN WILL BE TO CHANGE THE FOLLOWING ATTITUDES: (1) INTENT TO USE, (2) PERCEIVED HARM, (3) PERCEIVED PARENTAL SANCTIONS AGAINST DRUGS, (4) PEER ENCOURAGEMENT TO USE DRUGS, (5) PEER SANCTIONS AGAINST DRUG USE, (6) SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY OF DRUG USERS, AND (7) PERCEIVED PARENT/CHILD COMMUNICATION ABOUT DRUGS. RELIABLE SCALES WILL BE USED TO ASSESS THE EFFECT ON THESE ATTITUDES. OUTCOME WILL BE ASSESSED USING ARELIABLE AND VALID DRUG-USE SURVEY TO MEASURE DRUG INVOLVEMENT OF 8TH AND 12TH GRADERS.