Developmental Evaluation of Prevention Effects of the SAFE Children Intervention (SAFE III)
As the roster of efficacious preventive interventions for drug abuse risk grows, prevention researchers have become increasingly interested in refining and elaborating their understanding of intervention effects. These include: 1) how effects vary for subgroups with different levels of personal, familial and environmental risk; 2) how well initial effects last into long term benefits; and 3) what interim conditions curtail or enhance initial benefits. The SAFE Children study extends the initial findings of academic and social benefits in the early elementary grades to evaluate its long-term impact (to age 16). The SAFE Children program focuses on families residing in high risk (inner-city) communities, with a child entering elementary school. Results will help identify the ultimate promise of this approach and what contributes to sustaining effects on loss of benefits over time. Such studies are critical to learn what to take to scale.
