The dissemination of keepin' it REAL Through D.A.R.E. America: a lesson in disseminating health messages.

摘要

This essay discusses the impact of the Drug Resistance Strategies Project's keepin' it REAL substance use prevention curriculum. The Drug Resistance Strategies Project (DRS) is an interdisciplinary collaboration that has spanned 20 years of communication research and practice. Funded by a series of grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA005629, R01DA021670), DRS has produced research findings about the social processes of adolescent drug use (e.g., resistance strategies, identity, norms), health message design (e.g., cultural grounding, narrative health messages, multiculturalism), and methodological approaches (e.g., community-based participatory research). This line of research is grounded in application, using, testing, and developing theory in the service of promoting healthy adolescent behavior.