The School as a setting for ANDT prevention - a longitudinal intervention study of kontraktsmetoden and Triaden

Aim
The overall aim of the study is to improve the knowledge base for the alcohol and drug prevention among children and adolescents. The research program will in a longitudinal study follow the development of adolescent health and lifestyle, with a particular focus on alcohol and tobacco habits. The study includes an evaluation of two drug prevention programs - kontraktsmetoden and Triaden – that use the school as a setting for ANDT prevention. The evaluation aims to study if the school-based prevention programs have any effect on children and young people's drug use.
 
Background
Kontraktsmetoden is the National Association SMART's drug prevention program for students in grades 4-9. The program aims to work with drug prevention through positive reinforcement and individual contracts with adolescents. Students may, with the consent of the guardian, choose to sign a contract that is about deliberately choose to abstain from behaviours such as using tobacco, alcohol, drugs, vandalize, commit crimes or be disrespectful towards other people. Some signs contract only valid tobacco, while others contract contains several points. The contract is signed for one year at a time. Various benefits such as activities and discounts are tied to the membership for those who choose to sign the contract. The goal is to prevent and/or delay the age of onset of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and other antisocial behaviours.
 
Triaden is Team 49's IT-based traffic, crime and drug prevention program for students in grades 4-6 and their parents. The program is based on education combined with competitions where each class forms a joint team. The challenges are; 4-trampen - a traffic education for the 4th grade, 5-kampen - a training in ethics and morality for the 5th grade, Drogfighten - a preventive drug education for the 6th grade and Parental Fight - an education to encourage open communication between parents and children. The program aims to through knowledge provide the students with tools to make their own decision to abstain from crimes and drugs facing the teenage years.
 
Method
The study began in autumn 2011 and follows a longitudinal design with intervention and control groups. The same survey carried out in both the control and intervention schools with annual follow-ups. The questionnaires are based on previous studies and uses where possible established validated questions. To evaluate the effects of the program kontraktsmetoden, we follow a baseline with students (beginning fall 2011) from 7th grade through the first year of high school in the intervention and control schools in southern Sweden and in Skövde. The program evaluation of Triaden follows three baselines (starting in autumn 2011, 2012 and 2013) from 6th grade to the first year of high school in the intervention and control schools in southern Sweden. In total 26 schools are participating, including 4 control schools, and a total of close to 2,500 students. In southern Sweden, both kontraktsmetoden and Triaden are newly established methods since the fall of 2011. In Skövde is the kontraktsmetoden well established since many years. In autumn 2011 a questionnaire was sent out to parents with children in 7th grade in Skövde. Parents answered questions about family status and socioeconomic conditions. To understand the context in which the programs is carried out a general survey of the health promotion and prevention activities that occur at the participating schools will be done.
 
Key questions are: How does adolescent lifestyle change over time among students who participated in any of the programs? Are there any differences in lifestyles between those who participated in prevention programs versus those who did not participate? Do the drug prevention programs have the same effects if implemented with the beginning for students in the 4th grade as in the 6th or 7th grade? Do the programs have any moderating effect on students' tobacco and alcohol habits?
 
Results and publications
Reports of the results will be submitted annually to the Swedish National Institute of Public Health. The results are compiled annually for each participating school and municipality, and then sent out to the each school and to the organizations behind the drug prevention programs. The results will also be published as international scientific articles.
 
For more information
Contact Susanna Geidne, susanna.geidne@oru.se.