Coming to the new D.A.R.E.: A preliminary test of the officer-taught elementary keepin' it REAL curriculum

- The first evaluation of the new D.A.R.E. America elementary school program is presented.
- Students exposed to treatment rank higher in social and emotional skills that are foundational for resistance skills.
- D.A.R.E. students scored higher in measures of knowledge of the curriculum, indicating the program transmits its core ideas.

The present study reports a preliminary evaluation of D.A.R.E.'s new elementary school keepin' it REAL substance abuse prevention program. Given the widespread dissemination of D.A.R.E., this evaluation, even though of short term effects, has important implications for national prevention efforts. The new prevention curriculum teaches social and emotional competencies such as decision making and resistance skills. Social and emotional competencies and other risk factors were examined among students (N = 943) in 26 classrooms, 13 classrooms in the treatment condition (n = 359) and 13 classrooms in the control condition (n = 584) using a quasi-experimental matched group design. Pretest comparisons of treatment and control groups were completed, along with attrition analyses, and hierarchical logistic and linear regressions were computed to assess the intervention. The results revealed that the intervention produced significant effects on preventative factors such as the likelihood of resisting peer pressure, increased responsible decision making knowledge and decision-making skills, and confidence in being able to explain why they would refuse offers of cigarettes. The results of this study suggest that D.A.R.E.'s elementary keepin' it REAL program has promise as a social and emotional learning (SEL) based prevention program.