Reported are results of an independent effectiveness study of the Project ALERT drug prevention program implemented in eight Pennsylvania middle schools by outside program leaders employed by Cooperative Extension. In this randomized, 2-cohort longitudinal evaluation, 1,649 seventh-grade students completed a pretest and four waves of posttests over the 2-year program and 1-year follow-up. Project ALERT's effectiveness was tested through a 3-level hierarchical linear model. Analyses failed to yield any positive effects for substance use or mediators for use in the adult or teen-assisted delivery of the curriculum. An extensive set of additional analyses detected no differential program effects by student risk level, gender, school, or level of implementation quality. Potential explanations for outcomes relative to Project ALERT's original effectiveness trial are discussed, as well as implications for future research, including the need to conduct independent effectiveness studies of previously validated programs in a variety of contexts.

Tested the effectiveness of a youth drug prevention program in a community setting. Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Stay SMART program, adapted from a school-based personal and social competence drug prevention program, was offered, with and without a 2-year booster program, to 13-year-old members of Boys & Girls Clubs. Over 27 months, (a) 5 Boys & Girls Clubs offered the Stay SMART program, (b) 5 Boys & Girls Clubs offered the Stay SMART program with the booster programs, and (c) 4 Boys & Girls Clubs served as a control group. The Stay SMART program alone and the Stay SMART program with the booster programs showed effects for marijuana-related behavior, cigarette-related behavior, alcohol-related behavior, overall drug-related behavior, and knowledge concerning drug use. The Stay SMART program with the booster programs produced additional effects for alcohol attitudes and marijuana attitudes after each year of booster programs. Results suggest that a school-based personal and social competence program can be adapted effectively to a community setting and that booster programs might enhance program effects. Implications for alternative community models of prevention are discussed.

A previously published effectiveness study of Project ALERT delivered in schools by outside providers from Cooperative Extension found no positive effects for the adult or teen-assisted delivery of the curriculum despite high-quality implementation. Those findings and the likelihood that more outside providers will deliver evidence-based drug prevention programs in the future, led to this investigation of possible influences of leaders' personal characteristics on ALERT's program effects. Influence of leader characteristics on students' drug use and mediating variables for use were assessed by modeling program effects on within-student change as a function of leader characteristics. Students in classrooms with adult leaders who were more conscientious, sociable, or individuated were more likely to experience beneficial program effects. Students in teen-assisted classrooms with teen leaders who were more sociable or, to a lesser extent, highly individuated, showed more positive effects. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Involving parents of high‐risk youth in community‐based intervention programs is extremely challenging. This article presents six groups of strategies for recruiting and retaining parents of high‐risk youth in a parent involvement program called the Family Advocacy Network (FAN Club). The FAN Club program accompanied a drug prevention program for the parents' early adolescent children who were members of Boys & Girls Clubs. Strategies presented are based on a longitudinal study that found positive program effects for youth in Boys & Girls Clubs that offered the FAN Club with the three‐year youth drug prevention program and monthly youth activities. Strategies are: (1) identify the right person to lead the program; (2) clearly convey the purpose of the program; (3) build relationships of mutual trust, respect, and equality; (4) create parent ownership and group bonding; (5) provide easy access, incentives, and reminders; and (6) be flexible but persistent. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Tested the effectiveness of a youth drug prevention program in a community setting. Boys & Girls Clubs of America's Stay SMART program, adapted from a school-based personal and social competence drug prevention program, was offered, with and without a 2-year booster program, to 13-year-old members of Boys & Girls Clubs. Over 27 months, (a) 5 Boys & Girls Clubs offered the Stay SMART program, (b) 5 Boys & Girls Clubs offered the Stay SMART program with the booster programs, and (c) 4 Boys & Girls Clubs served as a control group. The Stay SMART program alone and the Stay SMART program with the booster programs showed effects for marijuana-related behavior, cigarette-related behavior, alcohol-related behavior, overall drug-related behavior, and knowledge concerning drug use. The Stay SMART program with the booster programs produced additional effects for alcohol attitudes and marijuana attitudes after each year of booster programs. Results suggest that a school-based personal and social competence program can be adapted effectively to a community setting and that booster programs might enhance program effects. Implications for alternative community models of prevention are discussed.