Longitudinal Study of Assertion Training as a Drug Abuse Prevention Strategy

Abstract

Seventy-two nonassertive junior high school students were assigned randomly to assertion training (in which one-third of the training stimuli involved drug-use peer pressure), placebo discussions focused on similar topics, or no treatment at all At posttest, the experimental students showed highly significant gains on behavioral and psychometric measures of assertiveness as well as decreased willingness to use alcohol and marijuana. At a 3-year follow-up point these students continued to display higher levels of assertiveness and less actual drug use.