All stars Plus: Enhanced Competency and Skills Training

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The aim of this project is to expand a theoretically- and empirically-grounded substance abuse prevention curriculum, All Stars. This middle school program emphasizes norm setting and other motivational strategies. It does not currently place an emphasis on skill training. The program will be expanded to include a skills training and competency enhancement component. This expansion will increase All Stars' potential for achieving positive outcomes and its potential for widespread dissemination. During Phase I, the development of an expanded curriculum will be completed. Additional components will focus on building skills for making non-impulsive decisions, for setting and achieving goals, and for increasing students' ability to resist social influences including influences from peers and the mass media. The expanded program will be tested to demonstrate its potential to affect targeted mediating variables. Three experimental groups will be formed: (1) the original All Stars, (2) All Stars plus enhancements, and (3) control. Each condition will consist of six randomly assigned classrooms. Mediators to be tested will include those directly targeted by the enhanced program (impulsive decision making, goal setting, and resistance self-efficacy) as well as those targeted by the original program (normative beliefs, intentions, lifestyle incongruence, bonding to school, and positive parental attentiveness). PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Drug use continues to be a serious problem in the country. The US Department of Education has recently adopted principles of effectiveness which include adopting research-based programs and models. This has created increased demand for well-designed effective research-based programs. This suggests this project will result in a product that will have excellent market potential.