An intervention for preventing alcohol use among inner-city middle school students.

OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of a brief, school-based intervention for preventing alcohol use. DESIGN AND SETTING Randomized, control trial assigning inner-city public school students to an intervention program or a comparison program. PARTICIPANTS Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students in Jacksonville, Fla (N=104). INTERVENTIONS Students assigned to the intervention program were given a self-instructional module and corresponding audiotape, a health consultation with a physician or nurse, and a follow-up consultation with a trained peer health model. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Alcohol consumption during the month after the intervention and students' assessments of the interventions were measured. RESULTS Students' t tests showed participants were more satisfied with physician or nurse consultations than with peer consultations or the self-instructional module and audiotapes (P=.05). Analysis of covariance tests showed significant main effects for 30-day quantity of alcohol use (F=5.15, P=.02), with intervention students reporting less alcohol consumption at follow-up than comparison students, and for 30-day frequency of alcohol use (F=5.92,P=.01) with intervention students again showing less frequent use at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS A multicomponent, school-based intervention using print and audiotape media, brief physician or nurse consultations, and follow-up peer contacts holds promise in altering short-term alcohol use and selected behavioral factors among inner-city youth.