# A High School Program for Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse

> **NIH NIH R44** · NATIONAL HEALTH PROMOTION ASSOCIATES, INC. · 2021 · $371,950

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
A High School Program for Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse
This Fast-Track SBIR proposal is designed to address the critical need for an effective primary prevention
approach for prescription drug abuse (PDA), an urgent public health crisis in the United States. Deaths from
prescription drug overdoses have more than tripled in the past 15 years, and the abuse of prescription opioids
has fueled a dramatic rise in heroin abuse, with 3 of 4 new heroin users reporting a history of misuse of
prescription opioids. The peak ages for PDA in the U.S. are 18 to 25. Thus, effectively preventing PDA in
adolescents is central to reducing further increases in morbidity and mortality. Research demonstrates that
alcohol, marijuana, and other forms of substance abuse typically co-occur with PDA and share similar risk and
protective factors. School-based prevention provides access to large numbers of youth, but new program
implementation modalities are needed because there is less time available for classroom-based prevention than
in years past. Thus, there is a need for prevention programs that address the risk and protective factors unique
to PDA, are broad-based in nature so that they address the risk and protective factors common to substance
abuse and related problem behaviors, incorporate best practices in effective substance abuse prevention, and
take advantage of new technologies to enhance classroom-based sessions. In the proposed project, we will
develop and test an adaptation of the evidence-based substance abuse prevention approach called Life Skills
Training (LST). The LST program has been extensively tested and found to effectively prevent substance abuse,
violence and aggression in a series of randomized controlled trials with behavioral effects reported in over 30
peer-reviewed publications. The proposed preventive intervention for high school PDA will (1) utilize both online
e-learning modules and interactive classroom sessions to address PDA and concurrent alcohol/drug abuse; (2)
positively change social norms surrounding PDA and alcohol/drug abuse; (3) challenge positive expectancies
about the benefits of PDA; (4) discourage diversion of prescription medication; (5) enhance protective factors by
building social, self-regulation, and relationship skills through interactive learning and behavioral rehearsal
scenarios; and (6) include online booster sessions. In Phase I, we will focus group test prototype materials with
high school students, teachers, and administrators to demonstrate feasibility, relevance, usefulness, and appeal.
Materials will be revised based on focus group feedback. In Phase II we will fully develop the program materials
and conduct a rigorous national randomized trial of the prevention program. High schools (N=30) will be
randomized into either an intervention group that receives the intervention or a treatment-as-usual control group
that receives existing school health education programming. At the end of the init...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10226253
- **Project number:** 5R44DA043273-04
- **Recipient organization:** NATIONAL HEALTH PROMOTION ASSOCIATES, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher Williams
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $371,950
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10226253

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10226253, A High School Program for Preventing Prescription Drug Abuse (5R44DA043273-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10226253. Licensed CC0.

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