Prevention from the classroom | What schools can do against addictions

Researchers from the International University of Valencia and the University of Zaragoza —Víctor José Villanueva-Blasco (Faculty of Health Sciences, VIU; RIAPAd), Jorge Medina-Martínez (Faculty of Health Sciences, VIU) and Javier Zaragoza (RIAPAd; Faculty of Human Sciences and Education, University of Zaragoza, Huesca)— present a systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based drug prevention programs in Spain.

Following PRISMA, they searched Web of Science, PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane Library. Of 274 studies identified, 29 met inclusion criteria. In the Spanish school context, 48 preventive programs have been implemented, but only 18 (37.5%) have evaluated their effectiveness according to effective prevention standards. Evidence shows that two models coexist today:

• Evidence-based prevention, with robust design and evaluation; y
• “Pseudo-prevention”, well-intentioned proposals but without methodological adjustment or evidence of effectiveness.

Conclusion: If we truly want to protect children and adolescents, we need programs that are evaluated and aligned with evidence, not just goodwill.

You can read the full research at the following link.