Measuring the effectiveness of a community-sponsored DWI intervention for teens

American Journal of Health Studies, Fall, 2000 by Alexander R. Hover, Barbara A. Hover, Janice Clark Young

Abstract: This study measured teen alcohol consumption, attitudes, and behaviors towards DWI. The intervention high school received the pre- and post-survey, with a another high school as the control group. In the previous month, students reported that 50% drank alcohol, 37% drank heavily, 33% rode with a DWI driver, and 16% reported DWI. The intervention program had a favorable impact on attitudes but not behavior. Survey and focus group data suggested there would be no sustained behavioral change without combining the intervention with stronger DWI law enforcement, community support, and educational programs.

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Teen use of alcohol is a significant community health problem. Among the leading causes of unintentional morbidity and mortality for youth in the United States, the use of alcohol ranks as one of the six major categories of risk behaviors (Kann, et al., 2000; and Meeks, Heir, & Page, 1996). When adolescents combine alcohol consumption with driving a motor vehicle or riding with an intoxicated driver, the consequences are often tragic. The principal cause of death for teens and young adults is alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents (Meeks, Heit, & Page, 1996). Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (YRBSS) in the United States for 1999 indicate that "during the 30 days preceding the survey 33.1% of students nationwide had ridden one or more times with a driver who had been drinking alcohol" (Kann, et al., 2000, p. 7). Also, in the YRBSS, 13.1% of teens nationwide admitted to having driven a vehicle one or more times under the influence of alcohol during the previous month (Kann, et al., 2000).

Drug prevention programs embrace a broad range of philosophies, from "macrolevel environmental approaches, such as national policy strategies (e.g., incentives for states to raise the legal drinking age to 21) to microlevel programs at the school or individual level (e.g., school-based prevention curriculum)" (Komro, Perry, Veblen-Mortenson, Williams, & Roel, 1999, p. 202). To be most successful, it is believed that drug and alcohol prevention efforts should combine both the macro- and microlevel approaches (Flay & Petraitis, 1998). Educational intervention programs aimed at school-aged students are the most common kinds of preventive approach in current use (Yuen & Pardeck, 1998). School-based drug prevention programs can be divided into three categories: knowledge programs, affective programs, and social influences programs (Ringwalt, Greene, Ennett, & Iachan, 1994). The knowledge-based prevention programs when used alone do not appear to prevent substance abuse and have a limited impact on behavior change (Coombs & Ziedonis, 1995). Educational guidelines support the theory that students should have the opportunity to personalize and assimilate learning in order to understand its effect on their lives (Kolaya & Grimes-Smith, 1999). The "Every 15 Minutes" intervention program measured in this study combines knowledge, affective response, and social influence to prevent teen drinking and driving.

PURPOSE

The Greene County DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) Task Force wanted to determine the effectiveness of a teen DWI intervention program known as "Every 15 Minutes" before deciding to sponsor it for a third time in 2000. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure the pre- and post-intervention prevalence of alcohol consumption, student attitudes, and behaviors towards drinking alcohol and driving at Kickapoo High School in Springfield, MO. The Greene County DWI Task Force is a community-based, volunteer organization in Springfield, MO. Its members include representatives from the local school PTSAs (Parent, Teacher, and Student Associations), school district administration, the Mayor's office, Springfield Police Department, Greene County Sheriff's Department, Missouri Highway Patrol, and community volunteers who meet to implement activities designed to reduce drinking and driving in Greene County, Missouri. The task force first piloted the "Every 15 Minutes," a teen drinking and driving intervention program at Glendale High School in May 1998, and planned to run the intervention again in May of 1999 at Kickapoo High School in Springfield.

METHODS

SUBJECTS

Springfield, Missouri is a small urban community in southwest Missouri with a population of 140,000. Kickapoo High School (KHS) is one of the five public 4-year high schools. The intervention group at KHS consisted of 1650 students in grades nine through 12. Parkview High School (PHS) is a 4-year high school in Springfield with an enrollment of 1,400 students and served as the control group for this study. Parkview High School did not receive the "Every 15 Minutes" intervention program.

STUDY DESIGN

This study was a pre-test/post-test design with the intervention program pesented at KHS, and PHS used as a control group. The study was based to a large extent, on information provided by a CDC publication on measuring the effectiveness of intervention programs (Thompson & McClintock, 1998). Permission to conduct this study was granted from the school board of the Springfield Public School District. The pre-intervention survey was conducted at KHS in March 1999. The teen alcohol intervention, "Every 15 Minutes," was presented within 14 days, and the post-intervention survey was administered 30 days later. The control survey was conducted at PHS within 10 days of the post-survey at KHS. It should be noted that the KHS post-survey and PHS survey were administered after each high school's prom.