$4.5 million awarded to create community drug abuse prevention trials network

Four grants totaling more than $4.5 million have been awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to conduct clinical trials that will test science-based drug abuse prevention interventions. These trials will accelerate research on the processes and mechanisms that contribute to the adaptation and implementation of drug abuse prevention models and will examine prevention delivery factors such as organization and management practices and financial strategies that foster the sustainability of such models in community settings. According to NIDA Acting Director Dr. Glen R. Hanson, "While there have been studies evaluating various drug abuse prevention interventions, very few studies have looked at the processes and mechanisms associated with the successful implementation of these interventions in communities. The field trials to be conducted under these grants will begin to fill that gap."

The field trials will study processes and mechanisms that influence the successful adoption, adaptation, and sustainability of programs at the community level. Each grantee under this initiative will study one science-based drug abuse prevention intervention in several experimental and control sites.

The grantees are:

University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon; Early Family-Centered Prevention of Drug Use Risk. This multi-site prevention study targets parenting practices in early childhood to reduce later risks of substance abuse. Thomas J. Dishion is the principal investigator.
The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Field Trial of Effects of the Coping Power Program. This field trial will examine whether Coping Power, a delinquency/drug abuse prevention program, can be effectively implemented by existing staff in a variety of urban school settings. John E. Lochman is the principal investigator.
Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, Oregon; Implementing Parent Management Training in Norway. This international collaboration will study a field trial initiated and funded by the Norwegian government to teach parents child-rearing practices that prevent deviant child behavior and promote healthy family development. Marion S. Forgatch is the principal investigator.
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Promoting Fidelity using Remote and Onsite Support. This project will test the relative effects of two training conditions to maintain the fidelity of a research-based prevention curriculum during implementation. Christopher L. Ringwalt is the principal investigator.

These awards were made in response to a NIDA Request for Applications, "NIDA National Prevention Research Initiative: Community: Multi-Site Prevention Trials," issued in December 2001. The RFA is one of three components of NIDA's new National Prevention Research Initiative. The other components focus on supporting basic research to develop new directions in drug abuse prevention interventions and the establishment of transdisciplinary prevention research centers.

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