Center for
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Project Alert

Summary

Project ALERT is a school-based prevention program for middle or junior high school students that focuses on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use.

"Project ALERT is a school-based prevention program for middle or junior high school students that focuses on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use. It seeks to prevent adolescent nonusers from experimenting with these drugs, and to prevent youths who are already experimenting from becoming more regular users or abusers. Based on the social influence model of prevention, the program is designed to help motivate young people to avoid using drugs and to teach them the skills they need to understand and resist pro-drug social influences. The curriculum is comprised of 11 lessons in the first year and 3 lessons in the second year. Lessons involve small-group activities, question-and-answer sessions, role-playing, and the rehearsal of new skills to stimulate students' interest and participation. The content focuses on helping students understand the consequences of drug use, recognize the benefits of nonuse, build norms against use, and identify and resist prodrug pressures."

Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20180625175924/https://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/ProgramProfile.aspx?id=155
Details

According to SAMHSA’s former National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP) [archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20180625175924/https://www.nrepp.samhsa.gov/ProgramProfile.aspx?id=155:  “Two major evaluations of Project ALERT have been undertaken, both by Dr. Phyllis Ellickson and colleagues at RAND Corporation. The first major evaluation (data set 1) involved 30 middle schools in 8 urban, suburban, and rural communities in California and Oregon. The schools were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions (teacher-led, teacher plus teen leaders) and one control condition. The second major evaluation (data set 2) involved 55 middle schools in South Dakota, representing a wide variety of Midwestern communities. These schools were randomly assigned to one treatment and one control condition. Broad dissemination of Project ALERT began in 1995. Since then, more than 50,000 teachers have been trained to deliver the intervention in an estimated 3,500 U.S. school districts.”

The studies found that “Project ALERT produced lasting outcomes for participants from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds who were at low, moderate, or high risk for alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana use. Overall, Project ALERT was equally effective when taught solely by classroom leaders and when teen leaders were included in classroom delivery.” In addition, the studies found that "Project ALERT dampened prodrug beliefs about cigarette and marijuana use (low resistance self-efficacy, low perceived consequences of use, tolerance of drugs, expectations of future use, and low estimates of peer drug use).”

A summary of Project ALERT research may be found here: https://www.projectalert.com/assets/0/758/Summary%20of%20PA%20Studies%20July%202017%20update.pdf

Publications related to the studies include:

Ellickson, P. L., & Bell, R. M. (1990). Drug prevention in junior high: A multi-site longitudinal test. Science, 247, 1299-1305. (data set 1)  Pub Med icon

Ellickson, P. L., Bell, R. M., & Harrison, E. R. (1993). Changing adolescent propensities to use drugs: Results from Project ALERT. Health Education Quarterly, 20(2), 227-242. (data set 1) 

Ellickson, P. L., Bell, R. M., & McGuigan, K. (1993). Preventing adolescent drug use: Long-term results of a junior high program. American Journal of Public Health, 83(6), 856-861. (data set 1) 

Ellickson, P. L., Bell, R. M., Thomas, M. A., Robyn, A. E., & Zellman, G. L. (1988). Designing and implementing Project ALERT: A smoking and drug prevention experiment. The RAND Corporation, R-3754-CHF, December. (data set 1)

Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., Ghosh-Dastidar, B., & Longshore, D. L. (2003). New inroads in preventing adolescent drug use: Results from a large-scale trial of Project ALERT in middle schools. American Journal of Public Health, 93(11), 1830-1836. (data set 2) 

Ghosh-Dastidar, B., Longshore, D. L., Ellickson, P. L., & McCaffrey, D. F. (2004). Modifying pro-drug risk factors in adolescents: Results from Project ALERT. Health Education & Behavior, 31(3), 318-334. (data set 2) 

Promising, not adapted
Child
  • Child perceived as problem by parents
  • Child temperament or behavior
  • Exposure to conflict or violence (family or otherwise)
  • Exposure to stress
  • History of child abuse and neglect/Use of corporal punishment
  • Low self esteem
  • Mental health problems
  • Social isolation
  • Substance abuse
  • Positive school environment
  • Relational skills
  • Self-regulation skills
  • Social and emotional competence
Increasing coping skills
Setting