Marketing & Communications
Division of University Relations and Development
News Release
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CONTACT: Jason Foster, foster@mail.sdsu.edu FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SDSU RECEIVES $1.8 MILLION
TO STUDY EFFECTIVENESS SAN DIEGO, Wednesday, October 22, 2003 – Researchers
at San Diego State University have received a five-year, $1.8 million
grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA) to study innovations in alcohol-problem prevention at SDSU
and at other colleges across the country. Specifically, SDSU substance abuse prevention experts
will look at the effectiveness of "behavioral alternative"
programs - efforts designed to steer students toward drug- and alcohol-free
events and environments. Examples of these programs at SDSU include
substance-free student housing and alcohol-free social events. "Behavioral alternative programs are an understudied
and under-evaluated element of campus substance abuse prevention
efforts," said James Lange, Ph.D, SDSU's Coordinator of Alcohol
and Other Drug (AOD) Initiatives and lead researcher for this project.
"Just like law enforcement initiatives and individual education
and counseling, behavioral alternative programs are a key part of
any comprehensive alcohol- and drug-prevention program. But we know
little about these alternatives' impact on alcohol or drug-related
problems. This grant will help us better understand how this piece
of the puzzle can fit most effectively into a broader prevention
framework." The researchers will also look to understand how
offering behavioral alternative programs affects student perceptions
of the campus' efforts to reduce substance abuse. "Often the most high-profile alcohol- or drug-prevention
efforts are punitive in nature, such as law enforcement stings or
sweeps that result in people being arrested or fined," Lange
said. "If students understand that campuses are not just trying
to 'bust' them but are implementing a number of programs aimed to
ensure they have a safe environment for their learning and development,
the students may be more receptive to the prevention messages and
more supportive of the university's prevention efforts." Lange, along with Social Work professor John Clapp,
Ph.D., first will pilot-test methods for measuring the impact of
SDSU's behavioral alternative programs and investigate ways to maximize
their benefits for students. Later the researchers will use the
measurement tools they developed to evaluate the effectiveness of
prevention programs at other selected campuses around the United
States. "This is an unprecedented opportunity for
SDSU to expand its leadership role in alcohol and drug prevention
research," Clapp said. "Often the NIAAA has researchers
study or evaluate programs on their own campus. For this grant they
will pair us with other colleges that don't have their own substance
abuse research experts, but do have interesting programs that are
worth scientific study." The SDSU grant was one of five recently awarded
to researchers across the nation under a new "rapid response"
funding mechanism. The NIAAA picked researchers representing a diverse
set of expertise within the college alcohol-abuse prevention field.
The five grantees will serve as a resource for other universities
who may be unable to conduct scientific evaluations of their own
alcohol programs. San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Since it was founded in 1897, the university has grown to offer bachelor’s degrees in 79 areas, master’s degrees in 67 areas and doctorates in 14 areas. SDSU’s more than 34,000 students participate in academic curriculum distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information, visit www.sdsu.edu. ### |
