(Applicant?s Abstract): This proposal seeks to remedy the dearth of research on drug abuse prevention related to the African American population. This study will focus on implementing and studying the effects of a school-based social competence training program on the incidence of drug abuse amongst African-American youth. Specifically, the effects of the individual elements of the program, self-management skills, decision-making skills, and academic self-esteem, will be established on the usage of substances such as nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. The study will focus on 8th graders (N=80). Additionally, this study will also investigate the role of related factors such as self-reports, subjective evaluations by teachers and parent/s, number of absences, expulsions, suspensions, and level of academic performance as useful predictors of drug abuse. Confirmatory analyses using LISREL/EQS and hair sample analyses will be conducted in addition to other exploratory methods. This quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design will involve undergraduate minority students in every aspect of the study including training of the youth, data collection, data analysis, and the preparation of papers and posters at national and regional research conferences. As a distant goal, this study seeks to implement such a school-based social competence program in the state of Georgia.
