Project ALERT

Previous Features »Project Alert

Project Alert Reduces Risky Sexual Behavior in Sexually Active Unmarried Young Adults

Click graph for larger image.

SOURCE: Ellickson PL, McCaffrey DF, Klein DJ. Long-Term Effects of Drug Prevention on Risky Sexual Behavior Among Young Adults, Journal of Adolescent Health, [Epub March 29 2009], Vol. 45, No. 2, Aug 2009, pp. 111-117. http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(09)00050-0/abstract

Helping kids say no to drugs

Project ALERT helps kids realize that not everyone is "doing drugs."

Project ALERT is a curriculum designed to prevent use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by teenagers in middle school and high school. ALERT aims to motivate students not to use drugs and gives them the skills they need to translate that motivation into effective resistance. The curriculum uses videos and interactive teaching methods, such as guided classroom discussions, small group activities, and intensive role-playing.

Project ALERT works. In multi-year, multi-site tests, it has been found to curb or forestall alcohol misuse plus use of cigarettes and marijuana among middle school students. It is equally effective in schools with low or high proportions of minority students and in a variety of socioeconomic settings. It reduces drug use by both low- and high-risk students.

Project ALERT is one of the most widely used science-based drug prevention programs in the country. It is constantly revised and updated to reflect new information. Named a model program by multiple governmental and private organizations, Project ALERT is listed in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices and distributed nationally by the BEST Foundation, through multi-year grant commitments from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. See http://www.projectalert.com/.

Recent analyses haveunderscored the program's cost-effectiveness by showing long-term results for multiple risky behaviors. Project ALERT curbed risky sexual behavior, as well as alcohol and drug misuse, among young adults who were exposed to the program as adolescents. Unmarried 21-year olds who had the ALERT curriculum in middle school were less likely than comparable peers to have sex with multiple partners or to have unprotected sex because of drug or alcohol use. The results were partially explained by program-induced reductions in alcohol and drug misuse at ages 19 and 21.

Learn more

Research BriefResearch BriefRelated DPRC Insight Newsletter

40 Years of RAND Health

More Features