Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on September 25, 2007
Health Education Research 2008 23(4):621-632; doi:10.1093/her/cym039
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The role of life skills promotion in substance abuse prevention: a mediation analysis
1 IFT Institut für Therapieforschung, Parzivalstrasse 25, 80804 Munich, Germany
2 Department of Developmental Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
* Correspondence to: A. Bühler. E-mail: buehler{at}ift.de
Research has shown that life skills programs are the most effective single activity in school-based substance abuse prevention. However, little is known about the processes through which they are effective. This study examines whether an evidence-based prevention program targeting general competence is effective through the promotion of knowledge about life skills and enhanced related behaviors. Based on a sample of 442 fifth graders participating in a quasi-experimental prevention study, as expected, mediation analyses revealed that increased knowledge about life skills paralleled an increase in students’ distant attitudes toward alcohol and nicotine use. Unexpectedly, behaviors manifesting enhanced life skills were found not only among program participants who remained experimental/non-smokers or stopped smoking but also among smokers. In general, findings suggest that favorable prevention outcomes may be influenced through building knowledge about general life skills. The notion of uniform mechanisms of effectiveness in prevention programs is discussed.
Received on September 20, 2006; accepted on June 20, 2007