Community Science recently completed the evaluation for The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s Parents: You Matter! community education program, which was designed to educate parents of 12- to 17-year-olds about adolescent substance abuse and provide tools and resources to prevent it. The evaluation tested the effectiveness of the program on parents’ ability to deal with their teens on drug and alcohol issues, from both the parents’ and adolescents’ perspectives. The evaluation showed that parents who received the intervention had significantly greater knowledge of substance abuse and related resources and confidence in communicating with their teens after three months than did a comparison group of parents who did not receive the intervention. The evaluation findings will be announced in a press release from the Department of Justice, which funded the program. The study’s findings also are being prepared for submission to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. (2010 – 2011)
