Project ALERT, A Smoking and Drug Prevention Experiment

First-Year Progress Report

Phyllis L. Ellickson

Published 1984

This Note reports on the progress of the first year of Project ALERT (Adolescent Learning Experiences in Resistance Training), an experiment testing the effectiveness of the social influence approach in preventing adolescent drug use. The program is based on evidence that adolescents appear to use drugs in response to social influences and in emulation of behavior they view as mature and independent. An important objective of the experiment is to test the program in a variety of school environments. A key feature of the curriculum is its stress on maximum student participation and practice, eliciting responses from them rather than forcing values and facts on them. The core curriculum covers (1) reasons why people do and do not use drugs, (2) consequences of use, (3) identifying and rewriting the messages in ads, and (4) saying "no" to external and internal pressure.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1984
  • Pages: 28
  • Document Number: N-2184-CHF

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Ellickson, Phyllis L., Project ALERT, A Smoking and Drug Prevention Experiment: First-Year Progress Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1984. https://www.rand.org/pubs/notes/N2184.html.
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