A review of research published last year (2018) in the Journal of Substance Use & Misuse examined whether physical activity strategies would help combat youth substance use.
The results suggest that physical activity interventions may decrease substance use in teens. A majority of the interventions were delivered in high schools, and measured alcohol, marijuana and tobacco use.
Although most of the studies utilized group sessions to deliver interventions, decreased substance use was also associated with one-time, multi-health consultations.
The authors concluded that school-based interventions targeting multiple health behaviors may offer a particularly effective and efficient way to decrease substance use in adolescents.
Two such single-session multi-health interventions are the evidence-based SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness program for youth and the InShape Prevention Plus Wellness program for young adults.
Both of these one-time interventions have been shown to prevent multiple substance use behaviors while increasing health-promoting habits including physical activity among adolescents and young adults.
Some effects of the SPORT and InShape Prevention Plus Wellness programs were sustained a year after intervention.
Key advantages of these two brief prevention interventions over other typical prevention programs include:
- Practical for use in busy school and community settings
- Can reach more youth with prevention more quickly
- Address the promotion of wellness with substance use prevention
- Evidence-based
- Found to influence both risky and healthy habits
Read the research abstract: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10826084.2018.1452338
Learn more about the SPORT & InShape PPW programs: http://preventionpluswellness.com