This application proposes the development of an interactive, multimedia program called SuperStart, a tobacco and alcohol use prevention tool for 6-8 year-old children. The need for this product arises from the continuing trends toward increased tobacco and alcohol use in adolescents, despite the availability of prevention programming in the later elementary grades. Prevention experts suggest that prevention programs need to begin as early as kindergarten. To address this need, the current application combines state-of-the-art tobacco and alcohol use prevention guidelines, developmental research, and advances in multimedia technology to develop a practical tool for improving substance use prevention and social competence skills in young children. The program will be delivered through an engaging animation format for children between the ages of 6- 8, and include child printouts, class activities, and take-home tasks to be completed with parents. SuperStart will encourage children, parents, and teachers to make tobacco and alcohol use prevention a prominent health topic. Phase I will yield a technical plan for the CD-ROM, an annotated script, a design of the teacher manual, and creation and acceptance testing of a SuperStart demo. Phase II will include a six-month follow-up of children and parents exposed to the program.
