Preventing Alcohol and Tobacco Use Through Life Skills Training: Theory, Methods, and Empirical Findings

Rates of drinking and smoking increase among high school students as they age. Therefore, prevention programs that target youth either before or during junior high school may help prevent alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use during high school. Life skills training (LST) is a school-based approach designed to prevent ATOD use among youth by influencing their knowledge and attitudes about ATODs, by teaching skills for resisting social pressures to use ATODs, and by helping students develop personal self-management and social skills. Researchers have studied this program’s effectiveness in preventing use of various substances among varied populations.