Evaluation of a School-Based Alcohol Intervention in Norway: Changes in Students' Intentions and Attitudes towards Alcohol Drinking?

Introduction:

The prevalence rate and problematic consequences of underage drinking warrant a comprehensive public health approach. However, it is unclear whether universal prevention programs are effective in preventing adolescents’ alcohol use. The W8 [wait] study is an evaluation of a Norwegian school-based alcohol intervention program called Youth & Alcohol, and it is part of a longitudinal study (pre-post- and follow-up). Intention and attitudes are both strong predictors of alcohol use (Foxcroft et al., 2003; Tobler et al., 1998). The main purpose of this study is to explore the short term effects of the intervention on attitudes and intention towards alcohol drinking among 8^thgrade pupils in Norway.

Methods:

A quasi-experimental design, involving a comparison group and an intervention group was used in the study. Baseline testing included 1553 first year students from 44 junior high schools. Mean age of 13.5 years (SD= 0.3) consisting of 50% girls. Questions measuring adolescents Intention to drink alcohol was based on Aas et al. (1995). Negative attitudes on alcohol usage measured the degree of what they find acceptable for their own age to drink alcohol in various situations. Data was collected four months after baseline measurement. Gain-scores were calculated for both the intervention and the comparison group, and differences between the groups were tested with independent samples t-tests. For the Intentions scale, a positive gain score indicates reduced intentions to drink alcohol from pre to post, and for the Negative Attitudes scale a negative gain score indicates more conservative attitudes on alcohol usage.

Results:

There was no significant difference between the two groups in gain score (posttest-pretest) for Intention to drink; intervention group (M_diff = 0.10, SD_diff = 1.13) than for those in the control group (M_diff = 0.00, SD_diff = 1.15). The increase in negative attitude gain scores was significantly lower for participants in the intervention group (M_diff = 0.23, SD_diff = 1.31) than the control group (M_diff = 0.42, SD_diff = 1.17); t (1185) = -2.51, p= .01(two-tailed).

Conclusions:

This study adds new information on the effectiveness of the universal school-based prevention program for junior high school students in Norway according to previous research. The intervention does not have a significant effect on intention towards alcohol drinking, but do have a significant effect on negative attitudes concerning alcohol usage. The effect size is small, but does indicate that the intervention affects the adolescents’ attitudes in the preferred direction.