COURSE OBJECTIVES FOR HEALTH:
By the end of the course, each student will:

1. Be able to make prudent choices concerning personal hygiene, daily exercise, rest, and diet.

2. Be able to identify those decision-making practices concerning the use of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.

3. Be able to identify common diseases and understand lifestyles conductive to prevention of disease.

4. Be able to recognize a positive self-worth and apply decision-making skills in social relationships.

5. To gain an understanding of mental health.

6. Project Toward No Drug Abuse (TND) is a highly interactive program designed to help high school youth (14 to 19 years old) resist substance use. A school-based program, TND consists of twelve 40- to 50-minute lessons that include motivational activities, social skills training, and decision-making components that are delivered through group discussions, games, role-playing exercise, videos, and student worksheets.

How It Works Project TND's 12 lessons are designed for presentation during a 4-week period, although they may be spread over 6 weeks if all lessons are taught. Project TND involves teacher-led student participation in interactive program components including: ·    Education on the progression of substance use to substance abuse ·    Exercises to motivate against substance abuse (e.g., exercises include a mock Talk Show that provides empathy lessons, discussions on stereotyping and the effects of being labeled a substance abuser) ·    Interpersonal skills development (e.g., communication, active listening) ·    Coping skills development (e.g., learning the value of personal health in daily living and life goals) ·    Self control training (e.g., social self-control skills, understanding positive and negative thought and behavior loops, violence prevention)·    Cognitive misperception correction (e.g., substance use myths, denial) ·    Tobacco cessation strategies ·    Decision-making skills development and commitment building ·    The TND Game (a classroom competition on substance use and effects knowledge) ·    The Drugs and Life Dreams program video ·    The use of longitudinal assessment materials

Target Population Project TND was tested with Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American adolescents, 14 to 19 years old, attending both regular and alternative schools. Protective Factors Protective Factors to Increase Individual Accurate knowledge of the course of substance abuse, its consequences, and its prevalence Effective communication, listening skills, and behavioral and cognitive coping skills Empathetic understanding of the effects of substance abuse on others Knowledge of tobacco cessation strategies Understanding the importance of health in achieving life goals Self-control, assertiveness, and conflict resolution skills Self-awareness to moderate specific behaviors Decision making skills Commitment to not using substances Family Understanding of effects of substance abuse on the family and how to get help School School commitment to not allowing substance use Community Resistance to negative stereotyping Risk Factors Risk Factors to Decrease

Individual Low self-esteem Self-defeating perceptions regarding substance use consequences Belief in substance use myths Benefits This program enables students to understand and express the cognitive misperceptions that may lead to substance use. Participants also state a commitment to discuss substance abuse with peers and not to abuse substances. Evaluation Design Two versions of Project TND (TND-I and TND-II) have been tested in three experimental field trials to date, involving two or three conditions in each design. TND-I is the original nine-lesson program, and TND-II is a 12-lesson program that added lessons on marijuana and cigarette use. Only TND-II is now disseminated. A 1997 to 1998 trial of TND-II involved 18 alternative high schools. A randomized block design was used to assign six schools to one of three conditions: (1) standard care (i.e., the control group), (2) a 12-lesson classroom program, or (3) a 12-lesson self-instructional version of the classroom program. An earlier trial of TND-I in three regular high schools had a two-group randomized block design where 26 classrooms were assigned to one of two conditions: (1) the nine-lesson classroom program or (2) a standard care control group. Approximately 1,000 youth participated in each trial.

Outcomes Project TND-II participants in alternative high school (schools for high-risk students) experienced: ·    A reduction in cigarette use of 27% ·    A reduction in marijuana use of 22% ·    A reduction in higher levels of alcohol use of 9% ·    A reduction in "hard" drug use of 26% ·    Among males, a 25% reduction in weapons carrying Project TND-I participants in regular high school experienced: ·    A reduction in "hard" drug use of 25% ·    A reduction in higher levels of alcohol use of 12% ·    Among males, a 19% reduction in weapons carrying.

Implementation Essentials Virtually any school or school district can implement Project TND. A single, trained classroom teacher delivers Project TND in a classroom setting to class sizes varying from 8 to 40 students. One to two days of teacher training prior to curriculum implementation is highly recommended. Project TND offers an implementation manual providing step-by-step instructions for completing each of the 12 lessons. Program materials also include: ·    A video on the need to eliminate substance abuse in order to achieve life goals ·    A student workbook ·    An optional kit containing other instructional materials (evaluation materials, the book, The Social Psychology of Drug Abuse, and Project TND outcome articles) Program Fidelity Coming soon. Program Background Project TND was developed specifically to fill a gap in substance abuse prevention programming for senior high school youth. It is the result of an ongoing research project that has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 1992. The theory underlying Project TND is that young people at risk for substance abuse will not use substances if they: 1) are aware of misleading information that facilitates substance use (e.g., myths about substance use, stereotyping), 2) have skills that help them lower their risk for use (e.g., coping skills, self-control), 3) appreciate the consequences that substance use may have on their own and others' lives (e.g., chemical dependency), 4) are aware of cessation strategies, and 5) have decision making skills to make commitment not to use substances. Program Developer Bio Steve Sussman, Ph.D., FAAHB Steve Sussman is a professor in the University of Southern California's Departments of Preventive Medicine and Psychology and holds a position at the Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research. He has published over 170 articles, chapters, or books in the area of substance abuse prevention and cessation. Recent projects include Project Towards No Tobacco Use (TNT), a tobacco use prevention program. He also helped develop Project EX, which is among the largest and most successful teen tobacco use cessation trials to date.