Prevention
Westat is evaluating efforts to prevent or reduce ATOD use that include mass media campaigns
and school-based and community-based interventions.
- For NIDA, Westat is evaluating the outcomes and impact of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media
Campaign. This campaign, which is implemented by the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP), is designed to discourage youth from illicit drug use. As part of the evaluation,
we designed and are conducting the National Survey of Parents and Youth, a panel survey
that is the basis for annual reports used by ONDCP and Congress to shape policy decisions and improve
campaign operations.
- Westat conducted the National Study on School Violence and Prevention
for the U.S. Department of Education. The study examined the following:
- The prevalence of youth problem behavior (including ATOD use), and
- The types and quality of efforts being implemented in schools to prevent and reduce problem behavior.
Through separate contracts, we also gathered information and reported on state and local education agency
prevention activities funded by the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and other sources.
- Westat is conducting the Alcohol Risk Prevention in a National Fraternity Study to evaluate the
effectiveness of an alcohol risk behavior intervention program for university students. This study, sponsored by
NIAAA, involves randomly assigning 98 university sites into three groups and collecting four rounds of longitudinal
data from more than 3,000 fraternity members.
- CSAP sponsors Phase III of the Cross-Site Evaluation of CSAP's State Incentive Grant (SIG) Program
to assess the extent to which illicit drug use among youth can be prevented or reduced by influencing state and
local prevention systems and by encouraging the use of evidence-based approaches. Westat's research builds upon the
evaluations being conducted by 44 grantees that have received SIG funding, and includes secondary analysis of data
collected by SIG communities and state evaluators, as well as site visits to communities across the country.
- Under an NIAAA grant, Westat designed, implemented, and assessed a large-scale community intervention to
prevent driving while intoxicated. The project combined the following:
- Publicity campaign,
- 24-hour Safe Rides Program for alcohol-impaired drivers,
- Rewards/incentives program for designated drivers, and
- Annual assessments of drinking-and-driving attitudes and behavior.
For more information about the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Studies Research Area,
please send us a message.
