Effective Prevention in New Jersey

Prevention Key Concepts

Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and employment status. Individual-level risk factors may include a person’s genetic predisposition to addiction or exposure to alcohol prenatally. Individual-level protective factors might include positive self-image, self-control, or social competence.” xvi

DEFINITION OF PREVENTION T he word prevention is defined as “to stop something before it happens.” From a public health standpoint, prevention is the work done with individuals, families, communities, and even nations to stop or reduce the incidence and/or impact of something negative on health and safety. When we place a traffic signal at a busy intersection, we prevent car crashes. When we stop factories from dumping carcinogens into a stream that feeds a reservoir, we prevent the increase in certain types of cancer. Substance use/misuse prevention is no different. The implementation of evidence-based practices and strategies refers to the efforts we make to reduce or eliminate the misuse of substances – alcohol, tobacco, marijuana/cannabis, prescription drugs, illegal drugs – and the impact of those substances on individuals, families, communities, and yes, even nations. Evidence-based substance use/misuse prevention is a collection of strategies, initiatives, and programs that research has shown effectively reduces substance use/misuse and its related impact when implemented. Examples of the effectiveness of evidence-based strategies can be seen when the drinking age went from 18 to 21. This increase in the minimum drinking age, in combination with seatbelt mandates and increased enforcement, prevented tens of thousands of alcohol-related car crash deaths. Additionally, increased regulation of the tobacco industry, in combination with broad community education, increased tobacco taxes and changes to age of sale laws, reduced the percentage of underage smokers in the United States by over 60%. RISK & PROTECTIVE FACTORS As we introduced the idea of upstream prevention, we began to address the many risk factors that put youth at higher risk for a substance use disorder as well as the protective factors that support youth. Prevention works to reduce these risk factors when possible and to increase protective factors. According to SAMHSA:

The following list provides some examples of the individual, family, school, and community risk factors that are known to be associated with a higher likelihood of developing a substance use disorder. These risk factors are those areas that can and should be addressed upstream to prevent the negative impacts that can occur downstream if left unaddressed.

RISK FACTORS INDIVIDUAL BASED

• Parental drug/alcohol use • Depression • Anxiety • Early substance use • Emotional problems in childhood • Sexual abuse • Early aggressive behavior

RISK FACTORS FAMILY BASED

• Parental drug/alcohol use • Substance use among parents or siblings • Inadequate supervision and monitoring • Child abuse/maltreatment • Parental favorable attitudes toward alcohol and/or drugs • Marital conflicts • Parental depression

RISK FACTORS SCHOOL/COMMUNITY

“Risk factors are characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precede and are associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes. Protective factors are characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of negative outcomes or that reduce a risk factor’s impact. Protective factors may be seen as positive countering events. Some risk and protective factors are fixed: they don’t change over time. Other risk and protective factors are considered variable and can change over time. Variable risk factors include income level, peer group, Adverse

• Peer rejection • Substance using peers • Loss of close relationship or friends • Poor academic achievement • School violence • Societal/community norms about alcohol and drug use

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