| One of the main objectives of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
(CSAP) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) state
incentive grants is to infuse science-based practices into the development and delivery of
prevention programming. Science-based prevention refers to the process in which experts
use commonly agreed upon criteria for rating interventions. Experts come to a consensus
that evaluation research findings are credible and can be sustained. Science-based is also
called evidence-based or research-based prevention. The trend towards science-based,
evidence-based, and research-based models can be seen in a variety of other disciplines
including medicine and public health. For a glossary
of science-based terms, visit the NE CAPT site.
Why is there a move towards science-based prevention?
- Funders' demands for accountability
- Persistence of ineffective programs
- Maturation -- more evidence about effectiveness is available
- Emerging strategy of funding a discrete number of demonstration projects that are then
replicated in multiple sites
- Recognition that prevention effects are not always benign
How does a program qualify as being science-based?
- Its based on theory
- Evaluated as a demonstration project and shown to be effective
- It has been replicated with similar results
- Reported in a peer-reviewed journal
Science-based Prevention Materials &
Resources
Brounstein, Zweig, & Gardner.
(2001). Science-based Substance Abuse Prevention: A Guide. Available:
http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/pubs_Guide.pdf.
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (1996). A Review of Alternative Activities and
Alternatives Programs in Youth-Oriented Prevention. [CSAP Technical Report 13].
Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/CSAPTechReport13.pdf.
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (1997). Guidelines
and Benchmarks for Prevention Programming: Implementation Guide. Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/GuidelinesBenchmarks.pdf.
Center for Substance Abuse
Prevention (2001). Principles of Substance Abuse Prevention.
Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/pubs_Principles.pdf.
Center for Substance Abuse
Prevention (2001). Promising and Proven Substance Abuse Prevention
Programs. Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/Pubs_Promising.pdf
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. CSAP's Model Programs: Here's Proof
Prevention Works! Available: http://www.samhsa.gov/csap/modelprograms/default.htm
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (1997). Selected Findings in
Prevention: A Decade of Results from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/pdf/SelectedFindingsinPrevention.pdf.
Central CAPT (1999). Science-based Prevention: Levels of
Effectiveness. Available: http://www.ccapt.org/levels.html.
Central CAPT (1999). Science-based Prevention Primer. Available: http://www.ccapt.org/scibase.html
Connecticut Clearinghouse (1999). Resources Available at the Connecticut
Clearinghouse on Science-based/Best Practices. Available: http://www.ctclearinghouse.org/ctscibase.pdf
Fisher, D. A. (1999). Environmental Prevention Strategies - An
Introduction and Overview. Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/csap/papers/fisher.pdf
Griffin, T. (1999). What is Scientifically-Defensible
Prevention? Available: http://www.miph.org/capt/whats_sdp.html.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (1997) Preventing drug use among
children and adolescents: A research-based guide. Available: http://www.nida.nih.gov/prevention/prevopen.html.
NE CAPT. (1999). Science-based Prevention: An Annotated Bibliography.
Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/services/products/other/bibs/scibib.asp.
NE CAPT. (1999). Science-based Prevention Strategies. Available:
http://www2.edc.org/capt/services/products/papers/strategies.asp.
NE CAPT (1999). Science-based Practices at a Glance. Available:
http://www2.edc.org/capt/science/default.asp#itemtwo.
NE CAPT (1999). Search for Effective Science-based
Prevention Programs. Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/science/pod/.
Ohrenberger, Harnad, Meredith, & Charette (1996). Putting Prevention
Research into Practice. Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/powerpoint/monday.
Rosati, M.J. & Goddard, C. (1999). Science-based Substance Abuse
Prevention. Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/services/products/presentations/sci201/.
Stewart, K. (1998). Selecting From Effective Prevention Strategies. Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/csap/papers/stewart.html.
Western CAPT (1999). Building a Successful Prevention Program. Available: http://www.open.org/~westcapt/.
Other Useful Resources
NE CAPT. (1999). Evaluation Research References for
Non-Researchers: An Annotated Bibliography. Available: http://www2.edc.org/capt/services/products/other/bibs/evalbib.asp.
Solé Brito, Stewart, & Reynolds. (1998, August). Prevention Stats Made
Easy: Understanding Correlation, Explained Variance, and Causation. Available: http://www.health.org/pubs/corella2.htm
UConn Evaluation Team. (1999). Substance Abuse Data Sources:
Connecticut, Regional, and National. Available: http://www.dmhas.state.ct.us/sig/datasources.htm.
Web Sites of Interest for the
Governor's Prevention Initiative
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