Prevention starts here: effectiveness of substance abuse prevention module among adolescent students in Bengaluru – a quasi experimental study
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Deepthi Ramamurthy
,
Rashmi Kundapur
Abstract
Objectives
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured educational module on substance abuse prevention program among adolescents in enhancing their knowledge against substance abuse.
Methods
A quasi-experimental design was employed involving 120 students (mean age: 14.3±1.03 years, 59.2% boys) from two English medium schools. Participants were exposed to a structured module on substance abuse over a month. The study assessed changes in knowledge through pretest and post-test evaluations. Statistical analyses examined improvements in scores and the relationship between class of study and post-test knowledge scores.
Results
The intervention significantly improved students’ knowledge about substance abuse (p<0.001) across all measured domains, genders, and classes, with the exception of the 7th class. A positive correlation was found between the class of study and post-test scores (Rs=0.288, p<0.001), indicating that higher classes were associated with greater improvements in knowledge. These findings suggest that the training effectively increased awareness and understanding of substance abuse among participants.
Conclusions
The substance abuse prevention program successfully enhanced adolescents’ knowledge and equipped them with resilience and coping strategies, thus reducing their vulnerability to peer pressure and substance abuse. Despite the lack of significant improvement in the 7th class, the overall positive outcomes underscore the importance of implementing such educational interventions to foster healthy development and well-being among students. Further research is encouraged to explore the specific barriers to effectiveness in younger classes and to refine program content accordingly.
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Research ethics: Ethical Approval was obtained by the Institutional (ESIC Medical College & Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science & Research) Ethics Review Board (IRB) and permission from respective authorities were obtained.
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Informed consent: Permissions were taken from the Educational department and School authorities. Informed written consent from the teachers and parents was taken, and assent was taken from the students & all data was kept confidential and secure.
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Author contributions: All authors have significantly contributed in conceptualization, conduction and writing of the research. All authors were involved in conceptualization, methodology, manuscript review and editing. Dr. Deepthi R, Dr. Smitha M,Dr. Rana Sarvar, Dr. Aparna S Nair and Dr. Rashmi Kundapur were involved in project administration, analysis and interpretation of the results. Dr. Deepthi R, Dr. Smitha M,Dr. Rana Sarvar and Dr. Aparna S Nair were involved in manuscript writing.
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Competing interests: Authors declare no competing interests.
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Research funding: Research proposal has not received funding from any external resources.
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Data availability: Data will be made available on request to authors.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Efficacy of behavioral interventions to increase engagement in sexual health services among LatinX youth in the United States: A meta-analysis for post-pandemic implications
- Electronic nicotine delivery system: a narrative review on growing threat to tobacco control and health of the young Indian population
- Original Articles
- Mindful awareness and resilience skills for adolescents (MARS-A): a mixed-methods study of a mindfulness-based intervention for a heterogeneous adolescent clinical population
- Adolescent health care and perceptions in a provincial hospital in Papua New Guinea
- Adolescents on an inpatient unit and their healthcare providers: what’s working and what’s not
- Adolescent and young adult long-acting reversible contraception post-insertion visit attendance before and after COVID-19
- Knowledge and beliefs of Greek parents towards HPV infection and vaccination – are they willing to vaccinate their sons?
- Prevalence and correlates of unintentional nonfatal injuries among school-going adolescents in Central America
- Prevention starts here: effectiveness of substance abuse prevention module among adolescent students in Bengaluru – a quasi experimental study
- Association of tobacco experimentation with anxiety and depression: findings from a representative sample of Tunisian adolescents
- Knowledge of smoking and influencing factors among school-going adolescents in Timor-Leste
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