Personality-Targeted Substance Use Interventions: Do They Work?
Do high-risk pupils benefit more so from psychological interventions than standard drug education initiatives?
Much research suggests there are, in fact, a number of significantly positive effects associated with the former.
What is more unclear, however, is the extent to which the personality matching strategy is an effective component of such interventions.
Following the reported success of the PreVenture Trail, which suggested a link between personality-targeted interventions and a reduction in motivation to consume alcohol, the Adventure Trail set out to test the impact of a similar programme on the substance use of pupils in a London school.
The trail observed several long-term benefits, notably a reduction in the likelihood of high-risk pupils reporting drinking, ‘binge’ drinking, or drinking problems.
This, in turn, suggests personality-targeted initiatives may provide an effective way of combatting substance use and abuse.
