Reducing Risk: Assessing the Effectiveness of Computer-Based Interventions

Published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, a new study reveals that CD-ROM intervention programmes, implemented with or without parental help, could reduce the risk of substance use among early adolescents living in an urban setting.

Despite recording an increase in alcohol, tobacco and cannabis consumption over a three-year period, the investigation, more encouragingly, found that throughout and once the period had ended:

• Teenagers who completed the CD-ROM intervention programme reported smaller increases than those who did not.
• Use of the CD-ROM programme alongside parental intervention measures was the most effective method for reducing alcohol consumption.
• Use of the CD-ROM programme with or without parental intervention measures were as effective in reducing tobacco and cannabis consumption among the teenage sample.
• Those who completed the CD-ROM programme with or without parental intervention measures alongside reported lower levels of negative and peer influence towards substance use.
• Family involvement in alcohol use prevention efforts was more likely to continue and was at its highest for the group who completed the CD-ROM intervention programme with parental aid.

From the three intervention methods tested, the study seems to show the CD-ROM intervention with and without parental involvement to be the most effective ways of reducing the risk of alcohol use among teenagers from urban areas.

Click here to read the full article in Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.