Abstract
Cannabis is the most frequently consumed illicit drug among young people. The preventive program “Sé tú mismo” (Be Yourself) (STM) was developed in order to reduce cannabis use in the adolescent population. The program consists of 10 sessions with social influence and life skills components, and is applied with an interactive methodology. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of the STM program in reducing cannabis consumption in the target population. Participants were 893 students from secondary education, ranging from 11 to 17 years of age (mean age 12.74 years). Students were assigned to an experimental group (n = 621) or a control group (n = 272), and three reported measures (pretest, post-test, and 6-month follow-up) were used to determine the efficacy of the intervention. The results showed that, the STM program was effective in moderating the increase in cannabis use in the past 12 months; specifically, the experimental group showed 2.44 times less likelihood of use than the control group. In addition, the STM program decreased the probability of consumption in the past 30 days in beneficiaries by 2.73 times compared with their previous consumption, while among non-beneficiaries consumption increased by 3.74 times. There were no gender effects of the STM program, being as effective in men as in women. In conclusion, the STM program reduces the likelihood of cannabis use and thus exerts indirect preventive effects on the cannabis-tobacco knot, or “reverse gateway”.
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Víctor José Villanueva, Sara Puig-Pérez and Elisardo Becoña declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Villanueva, V.J., Puig-Perez, S. & Becoña, E. Efficacy of the “Sé tú Mismo” (Be Yourself) Program in Prevention of Cannabis Use in Adolescents. Int J Ment Health Addiction 19, 1214–1226 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00219-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-019-00219-6