Information Dissemination is a vital part of the Comprehensive, Multi-Component Approach. It aims to increase knowledge and alter attitudes about issues related to alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and abuse by disseminating information about the nature and prevalence of substance abuse and addiction and the psychological and social effects of substance abuse. However, research has shown that knowledge of the consequences of drug use is not enough to prevent adolescents from using drugs. It is seen to be an effective prevention strategy insofar that it causes students to perceive themselves as personally susceptible to the consequences of drugs use.

Programs that use a combination of (1) normative education, (2) information about the consequences of drugs and violence and (3) social skills training, including social influences training are more successful in preventing drug use than using a single approach.

Supporting Citations:

Dent, C.W. et al. (1995). Two-year behavior outcomes of Project No Tobacco Use. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 63, 676-677.

Gottfredson, D.C. (1997). School-based crime prevention. In L. Sherman (Ed.), Preventing crime: what works, what doesn't, what's promising: A report to the United States Congress (pp. 5-1 - 5-74). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

Hansen, W.B. (1992) School-based substance abuse prevention: A review of the state of the art in curriculum, 1980-1990. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice 7(3), 403-430.

Hawkins, W.B., Catalano, R.F. & Miller, J.Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Pscyhological Bulletin, 112(1), 64-105.