Abstract:
The present study aims to develop an effective substance abuse prevention program for
adolescents in Bangladesh. The study also explored the efficacy of the developed
substance abuse prevention program. There were two groups, an experimental and a
control group containing 143 (72 in the experimental and 71 in the control) participants
aged 12 to 18 in each group. A convenient sampling technique was used to collect the data
from the participants. To measure the baseline data, four self-report questionnaires named
Substance Use Risk Profile Scale (SURPS), Hostility scale, Spence Children’s Anxiety
Scale – 20, and the Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire and also a short demographic
information form was administered. Based on existing literature as well as with the expert
and judge evaluation two sessions of training materials containing emotion regulation and
assertive communication skills were developed for the adolescents in Bangladesh. After
ensuring that there was no significant difference between the two groups by analyzing the
independent sample t-test in the four measures, intervention (prevention program) was
administered to the experimental group while the control group didn’t receive any
intervention (control group received the same intervention after follow-up assessment).
After the intervention post assessment was taken from both groups and one month later,
those questionnaires were conducted again to see if there was any significant change
among pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up assessments. Two-way repeated
measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results indicate that within-subjects there
was a significant main effect of time on the four questionnaires. There was also a
significant main effect of group on all measures except the SCAS-20 and also there was a
significant main interaction effect of time and group. This means adolescents hostility, risk
of substance abuse, depression and anxiety reduced over time in the experimental group that was significantly differed (except the anxiety) from the control group, and also the
rate of change in the Experimental group was significantly different from the Control
group over time. This indicates the prevention program that used in the present study was
effective to prevent substance abuse.
