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Guiding Good Choices® Results and Recognition

Program Results

Sustainable program effects!

In just five sessions, the Guiding Good Choices program can improve substance abuse outcomes for up to 10 years!

In a 4-year follow-up study,* the Guiding Good Choices program was shown to:

  • reduce current alcohol use by 40.6%
  • significantly reduce the rates of initiation for marijuana and drunkenness.

A follow-up study** showed that young adults whose parents attended the Guiding Good Choices program 10 years earlier were:

  • 9% less likely to get drunk
  • 11% less likely to have alcohol-related problems
  • 11% less likely to smoke cigarettes
  • 16% less likely to use illicit drugs
  • 10% more likely to be free of all measured substance abuse problems.

In other clinical studies,* the Guiding Good Choices program has been shown to:

  • reduce the likelihood that experimental users will advance to heavier use by 54%
  • increase the likelihood that non-users will remain drug-free by 26%.
  • reduce the likelihood that young people will commit delinquent acts.

In a randomized clinical trial, the program was found to significantly reduce the rate at which adolescents develop depression. For one of the symptoms of depression -- feelings of worthlessness and inferiority -- risk reduction was as high as 28%. The program was also found to significantly slow the typical rate at which multiple substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs) increases during adolescence.***

*at 2- or 4-year follow-up, compared to a control group of children whose parents did not participate in the program. Source: Original studies published in Prevention Science and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Specific citations are available upon request.

**at 10-year follow-up, compared to a control group of adolescents whose parents did not participate in the program. Source: Original study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Specific citation is available upon request.

***Program tested under its previous name, Preparing for the Drug-Free Years (PDFY). Mason, W.A., Kosterman, R., Hawkins, J.D., Haggerty, K.P., Spoth, R.L., Redmond, C., (2007). Influence of a Family-Focused Substance Use Preventive Intervention on Growth in Adolescent Depressive Symptoms. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17(3), 541-564.

NIDA Reports Families That Care Yields Measurable Benefit-Cost Ratio PDF

Program Recognition

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED:

  • Model Program (the highest possible rating)
    Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
  • Perfect score -- program materials
    SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
  • Near perfect score -- dissemination
    3.5 points out of 4 in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)
  • Model Program (the highest possible rating)
    National Dropout Prevention Center/Network  
  • Exemplary 1 Program (the highest possible rating)
    Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
  • Promising Program
    Department of Education's Expert Panel, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program
  • Promising Program
    University of Colorado's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
  • Research-based program with positive results
    National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
  • Best Practice
    Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT
  • Evidence-Based Program
    United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
  • Level 1 Program (the highest possible rating)
    Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP)

The Guiding Good Choices program has once again been recognized by SAMHSA using its rigorous new NREPP evaluation process.

Perfect score!

Program materials
SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP)

Near perfect score!

Dissemination
3.5 points out of 4, National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)