Computer Education System for Youth on Substance Abuse

The long-term objective is to develop a microcomputer-based education product for youth, tentatively titled MYFITE for Life¿ (MYFITE¿), to give youth a "fighting chance" in substance use and abuse prevention and treatment. MYFITE is based on the Fitness Intervention Training (FIT) model, a "life skills" approach for developing a physical fitness lifestyle as an alternative lifestyle to substance use and abuse. Specific Phase I research and development aims are l) to begin modification of the FIT youth education program to the commercial MYFITE product, 2) to incorporate one knowledge and one skill FIT objective to the MYFITE prototype, 3) to conduct formative evaluation on the MYFITE prototype's ease of use, acceptability, and appropriateness for educating youth in substance abuse prevention and treatment, and 4) to compare learning acquisition of knowledge and skills between MYFITE and the classroom-based FIT youth education model. MYFITE is conceived as an interactive, microcomputer-based product combining multimedia - data, graphic, video, and audio - with intelligent systems to produce an innovative, individualized education product for youth. MYFITE would provide several advantages over current education methods, including reduced education and labor costs, the introduction of new technologies into education and testing, and an interactive learning and feedback environment.