Underage drinking is a serious social problem and various programs have been developed to prevent alcohol consumption in minors. Prevention programs fall into two categories: (1) environmental interventions, which engage the community to curtail juvenile access to alcohol, and (2) individual interventions, that seek to educate juveniles about the risks of alcohol consumption (Jones, S.P., & Heaven, 1998). The first programs were school-based and leaned towards individual interventions. The aim of these programs was to scare youth away from alcohol, but none of these programs have been proven to be effective. The best programs were based on social theories and focused on developing alcohol resistance skills (Smith, Goldman, Greenbaum, & Christiansen, 1995). However, both the National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on underage drinking recommend environmental interventions (Bonnie, & O’Connell, 2004). These interventions use a variety of strategies to reduce the availability of alcohol, and enforce sanctions against drinking. The best programs use comprehensive multi-competent and multi-disciplinary interventions, which address all the elements that might be associated with underage drinking, both intrinsic and extrinsic. The best program that has been developed to date is Project Northland, which has been chosen as the model alcohol intervention program by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Project Northland uses a comprehensive multi-component approach. This program is now being implemented with success in diverse communities across the nation (Perry, et al., 2002).
References
Bonnie, R.J., & O’Connell, M.E., (2004). Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective
Responsibility. National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine
(IOM), Committee on Developing a Strategy to Reduce and Prevent Underage
Drinking. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2004. Access at:
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309089352/html.
Jones, S.P., & Heaven, P.C. (1998). Psychosocial correlates of adolescent drug-taking
behaviour. Journal of Adolescence 2,1127–134.
Perry, C.L., Williams, C.L., & Komro, K.A.; et al. (2002). Project Northland: Long-term
outcomes of community action to reduce adolescent alcohol use. Health
Education Research 17, 117–132. Access at: PMID: 11888042
Smith, G.T., Goldman, M.S., Greenbaum, P.E., & Christiansen, B.A. (1995). Expectancy
for social facilitation from drinking: The divergent paths of high-expectancy and
low-expectancy adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 104, 32–40.
Access at: PMID: 7897051
