Truth and D.A.R.E.: Is D.A.R.E.’s new Keepin’ it REAL curriculum suitable for American nationwide implementation?

Abstract

The study investigates the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Keepin' it REAL (KiR) curriculum-America's most prevalent in-school prevention programme-using a modified systematic review procedure as adapted from the Cochrane Handbook. No published studies research the D.A.R.E. version of KiR, and so we consider the Keepin' it REAL intervention as a whole. After reviewing the abstracts of 677 studies matching relevant keyword searches, 11 studies matched inclusion criteria (e.g. testing effectiveness on substance use). The systematic review yields mixed results for the effectiveness of the Keepin' it REAL intervention. Concerns remain regarding the appropriateness of the KiR D.A.R.E. programme: (1) KiR has only been tested on a narrow audience and may not be appropriate for D.A.R.E.'s larger audience, (2) KiR may not be effective in reducing substance use among elementary school students and (3) the specific versions of KiR implemented by D.A.R.E. (KiR D.A.R.E. and KiR D.A.R.E. Elementary) have yet to be tested for efficacy. The authors recommend independent, randomised trials for the KiR D.A.R.E. curriculum and the development of a standardised measure and evaluation system for in-school substance use prevention programmes.

Evaluation of the UK D.A.R.E. Primary programme

“…The D.A.R.E. curriculum has undergone changes since its development (West and O'Neal, 2004;Griffiths, 1999;Caputi and McLellan, 2017), yet studies of updated versions of the programme (Vincus et al, 2010) including the 'Take Charge of Your Life' (TCYL) programme (Sloboda et al, 2009), as with the previous studies found no clear positive effect regarding substance misuse. Sloboda et al (2009) also considered a number of mediating factors.…”

“…was developed in 1983 in Los Angeles, California by the County School District and Police Department before being rolled out nationally. It spread rapidly; by the mid-1990s it had been implemented by around half of school districts and today covers three quarters of American school districts (Caputi and McLellan, 2017) and a number of countries across South America, Europe as well as New Zealand, Canada and the Caribbean (Ennett et al, 1994, p. 113;Griffiths, 1999, p. 95). D.A.R.E.…”

“…This version of the D.A.R.E. programme has now been replaced by the KiR curriculum, created separately at Pennsylvania State University by a team including Professor Hecht in the late 1980s for middle school pupils (Caputi and McLellan, 2017). The programme consisted of 10 lessons promoting anti-drug norms and teaching resistance using four strategies of Refuse, Explain, Avoid and Leave, hence REAL.…”

Políticas de prevenção ao abuso de drogas no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos

“…Although PROERD is still offered in schools, studies in the 1990s already showed the inefficacy of DARE 10,47,48 . Current studies have also assessed PROERD negatively, reporting the use of scare tactics 49 and lack of evidence of efficacy 50 .…”

Comment to Caputi and McLellan: Truth and D.A.R.E.: Is D.A.R.E.’s new Keepin’ it REAL curriculum suitable for American nationwide implementation?

“…We appreciate the chance to respond to Caputi and McLellan's (2017) article challenging the effectiveness of D.A.R.E. 's keepin' it REAL prevention program.…”