How Effective Are Prevention Plus Wellness Programs?

Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) programs are effective, especially for reducing youth substance use and increasing healthy lifestyle behaviors. 

The strongest results come from the SPORT (Substance Prevention Optimizing Resiliency Training) PPW program for youth and the InShape PPW program for young adults, which are the most widely studied PPW models. 

Here’s the clear takeaway: PPW reliably reduces substance use risk factors like perceived harmfulness and increases protective factors like intentions to avoid drug use and practice healthy behaviors leading to less substance use and more healthy habits. 

Published Research Studies 

Across multiple evaluation studies, PPW programs consistently show: 

• Increased perceived harmfulness of alcohol, cannabis, e-cigarette, tobacco and opioid use/misuse.
• Greater intentions to avoid multiple substance use.
• Greater intentions to engage in healthy behaviors including regular physical activity, eating breakfast and other healthy foods, getting adequate sleep and practicing stress management.
• Reduced substance use, e.g., alcohol use initiation, binge drinking, marijuana use, tobacco use, drinking & driving.
• Improved health-enhancing behaviors, e.g., physical activity, multiple health behavior goal setting.
• Greater evidence-based program feasibility and fidelity in schools and communities because they are single‑session, require minimal training, are easy to deliver, and target desired positive future self-identities. 

These outcomes matter because they cost-effectively address risk and protective factors for multiple health behaviors associated with the mental and physical wellbeing, performance and happiness of young people. 

Real-World Evaluation 

A 2025-2026 real-world evaluation of the one-session evidence-based SPORT PPW program among 1852 middle school students significantly increased the percentage of students who perceived substance use as harmful. 

Here are the increases in pretest to posttest beliefs that specific substance use is harmful: 

·       Alcohol: 42%-53%=11% increase

·       Smoking cigarettes: 48%-57%=9% increase

·       Marijuana: 49%-57%=8% increase

·       Vaping e-cigarettes: 47%-57%=10% increase

·       Opioids: 45%-55%=10% increase 

This evaluation also found that significant proportions of participating adolescents increased their intentions to engage in healthy habits. 

Here are the pretest to posttest increases in youth intentions to practice specific healthy behaviors: 

·       Regular physical activity: 50%-57%=7% increase

·       Eat fruit & vegetables: 42%-49%=7% increase

·       Eat healthy breakfasts: 26%-35%=9% increase

·       Practice stress control: 35%-52%=17% increase (includes “very likely” & “likely” responses)

·       Set health or fitness goals: 76%-81%=5% increase (includes “very likely” & “likely” responses) 

Both perceived harmfulness of substance use and healthy behavior intentions are strongly associated with less substance use and increased healthy habits, which are linked to greater mental and physical wellbeing. 

This real-world evaluation highlights the practicality of PPW programs.  Two facilitators were able to provide the SPORT PPW program to nearly 2,000 students in multiple middle schools in just one school year (fall and spring semesters).  

This is because PPW programs are a single, 45-minute easy to implement scripted intervention, which can be provided in classroom, one-on-one or online formats.  This level of brevity and flexibility significantly increases evidence-based program implementation fidelity and public health reach.  

With built-in brief online surveys to assess and monitor PPW program outcomes, program data collection becomes feasible for communicating program successes, making program corrections, and growing and sustaining support from funders. 

Conclusion 

Because the PPW model targets health-enhancing behaviors and desired positive future self-images of youth, PPW programs are a more desirable, motivational and whole-health strategy for preventing substance use, particularly among youth who’ve already heard “Don’t use” and risk-focused only prevention messages. 

This is why PPW programs have multiple advantages over traditional substance use prevention curricula.  PPW programs are effective, evidence-based, practical and whole-health with a brief, scalable format schools and communities can successfully implement.