Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Substance-abuse prevention program for elementary and middle school students) 

Randomized controlled trials show DARE has no significant impact on participants’ substance use; based on these results, DARE is now testing a revised curriculum.

Description of the intervention:  DARE is a highly-structured substance-abuse prevention program taught by uniformed police officers.  DARE has developed a program for elementary school students (5^th or 6^th graders), as well as middle school/junior high school students (7^th or 8^th graders).

The program is typically provided in 10-20 weekly hour-long sessions, during which the police officers use lectures, class discussion, role plays, and homework assignments to 1) teach students about substance use and its effects; 2) teach students decision-making and peer pressure resistance skills; and 3) boost students’ self-esteem.  Prior to teaching, the police officers take an 80-hour training course on teaching techniques, classroom management, and the DARE curriculum.

DARE costs approximately $130 per student (2004 dollars) and, as of 2001, was operating in 75% of American school districts.

Based on the negative study findings below, DARE is now piloting a revised curriculum – "Take Charge of Your Life" – which is being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial.

Study 1

Randomized controlled trial of 24 urban and suburban elementary schools in Illinois, with 1213 5th and 6th graders.  Schools were randomly assigned to a group that received DARE, or a control group that did not (but were free to provide students with alternative substance-abuse prevention programs).  Twelve rural schools were also included in the study, but we do not report the findings on these schools because they were not randomly assigned.

Results 2 years after the program’s completion:

• DARE had no significant impact on students’ use of cigarettes or alcohol, versus the control group.  (The study did not assess DARE’s impact on illicit drug use.)

Discussion of study quality (click here for glossary of terms)

• The study had low attrition, with approximately 80% of the original randomized sample completing the two-year follow-up survey.
  
• In measuring outcomes, the study used an intention-to-treat analysis.
  
• Prior to the intervention, DARE and control schools were similar on all substance use measures and most demographic characteristics.
  
• This was a large study conducted in typical public school settings, thus providing evidence of DARE’s real-world effectiveness.


• Study Limitation:  Substance use outcomes were measured through student self- reports, and were not supplemented by more objective measures (e.g., saliva tests for tobacco use).

Sources  (click on linked authors' names for their contact information)

Ennett, Susan T., Dennis Rosenbaum, Robert Flewelling, Gayle S. Bieler, Christopher L. Ringwalt, and Susan L. Bailey. "Long-term Evaluation of Drug Abuse Resistance Education." Addictive Behaviors, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 113-125, 1994.

Shepard III, Edward M. "The Economic Costs of D.A.R.E." Institute of Industrial Relations, Research Paper Number 22, November 2001. Click here for a link to this paper.

Study 2

Randomized controlled trial of 24 middle or junior-high schools in Minnesota, with 6728 7th and 8th graders.  The sample included urban, suburban, and rural schools.  Schools were randomly assigned to receive (i) DARE; (ii) DARE Plus (i.e., DARE plus an extensive supplemental program emphasizing parental involvement, extracurricular activities, and neighborhood action teams); or (iii) neither program (the control group). 

Results 1.5 - 2 years after program completion:

• DARE had no significant impact on students’ self-reported use of alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs, versus the control group.
  
• DARE Plus did decrease self-reported alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use among boys but not girls, compared to the control group. The study does not indicate the magnitude of the decrease.  DARE Plus thus appears to be a promising intervention that would merit evaluation for its longer-term impact.

Discussion of study quality (click here for a glossary of terms)

• The study had low attrition, with outcome data obtained for approximately 80% of the original sample.
  
• In measuring outcomes, the study used an intention-to-treat analysis.
  
• There were no significant differences between the three groups prior to the intervention.
  
• This was a large study conducted in typical public school settings, providing evidence of DARE’s real-world effectiveness.


• Study Limitation:  Outcomes were measured through student self-reports, and were not supplemented by more objective measures (e.g., saliva tests for tobacco use).

Source  (click on linked authors' names for their contact information)

Perry, Cheryl L, Kelli A. Komro, Sara Veblen-Mortenson, Linda M. Bosna, Kian Farbakhsh, Karen A. Munson, Melissa H. Stigler, and Leslie A. Lytle. "A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Middle and Junior High School D.A.R.E. and D.A.R.E. Plus Programs." Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Vol. 157, February 2003, pp 178-184.

Other studies

Other randomized controlled trials of DARE, as well as longer-term follow-ups of study 1 (above), have been carried out.  However, we do not describe them here because they suffer from very high attrition, which raises questions about the validity of their conclusions.  The results of these other studies are consistent with those of study 1 and study 2 above.