To help people working in the alcohol and other drug abuse prevention field, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in cooperation with the scientists who conducted the research, have prepared the following descriptions of some programs that have been studied scientifically. Each has been developed as part of a research protocol and tested in a family, school or community setting over a reasonable period with positive results. These programs are categorized by a new series of definitions adopted in the prevention field, which describe the programs by the audience for which they are designed. Specifically, they are universal programs, selective programs, and indicated programs.
Universal programs reach the general population, such as all students in a school.
Selective programs target groups at risk or subsets of the general population, such as children of alcoholics or poor school achievers. Indicated programs are designed for people who are already experimenting with drugs or who exhibit other risk-related behaviors. Universal Programs Project Star is a substance abuse prevention program that reaches the entire community population with a comprehensive school program, mass media efforts, a parent program, community organization, and health policy change. The most important factor found to have affected drug use among the students was increased perception of their friends' intolerance of drug use. The Life Skills Training classroom program is designed to address a wide range of risk and protective factors by teaching general personal and social skills in combination with drug resistance skills and normative education.