COUNTRY: UNITED KINGDOM
REGION: EUROPE
Implementer: Alcohol Education Trust (AET)
Partners: Evaluated by the National Foundation for Educational Research
Program Overview: Talk About Alcohol aims to promote responsible attitudes and behaviors around alcohol consumption among students ages 11-16, specifically to delay the age of alcohol initiation, reduce the prevalence of drinking with the intention to get drunk, and to reduce antisocial consequences associated with drinking.
Program Design: Talk About Alcohol gives teachers, parents, and students resources and tools to help them make informed decisions and to enhance their ability to manage difficult situations during adolescence. Program materials include a Student Guide, Teacher Workbook, Guide for Parents, lesson plans, a DVD, and the Program Website.
Evaluation: The evaluation covered two years of the program in 16 schools with 17 schools in the comparison group. 2015 students ages 12-13 were given Talk About Alcohol materials and were included in the intervention group and a matched comparison group of 1904 students did not use program materials. Students in both groups were given questionnaires at baseline and at two additional time points over the two year period. The questionnaire was administered in the classroom and collected data on three main outcomes: alcohol knowledge, drinking initiation, and frequency of alcohol consumption.
Key findings: Evaluation results showed statistically significant differences between intervention and control students for the following outcomes:
- Fewer students in the intervention group had initiated consumption of alcohol
- Students in the control group showed significantly higher levels of knowledge about alcohol and its effects
- Levels of frequency of drinking and heavy drinking were lower among intervention students, but did not reach statistical significance, in part due to lower prevalence of these outcomes
Program Websites: www.talkaboutalcohol.com and alcoholeducationtrust.org
References:
1. Lynch, S., Styles, B., Dawson, A., Worth, J., Kerr, D., & Lloyd, J. (2013). Talk About Alcohol: An evaluation of the Alcohol Education Trust's intervention in secondary schools. Slough: NFER.
Target Audience: Middle school (10-14 years), Parents, Teachers
Issues: Underage Drinking
Setting: Schools
Approach: Life Skills
