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Program Evaluation Strategies for Substance Abuse Prevention

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Abstract

Substance abuse prevention has grown from a grassroots movement and a topic of marginal academic interest into full-fledged technology. Central to the success of this technology has been the development of evaluation methods for documenting the effectiveness of programs and policies. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in program evaluation for substance abuse prevention efforts. Included in this review is a discussion of approaches to process, outcome, and impact evaluation. Evaluation designs are reviewed with attention given to topics such as recruitment and retention of sites and participants, defining interventions, data collection, controlling for rival explanations, and data analysis and reporting.

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  1. Tanglewood Research, Inc., Greensboro, North Carolina

    William B. Hansen

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  1. William B. Hansen
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Correspondence to William B. Hansen.

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Hansen, W.B. Program Evaluation Strategies for Substance Abuse Prevention. The Journal of Primary Prevention 22, 409–436 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015231724053

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