Evidence-Based Practices: Community-Based Interventions to Reduce Alcohol Use and Misuse

This chapter is a literature review highlighting effective community-based prevention initiatives for reducing and preventing adolescent substance use and misuse. Findings are presented from the research literature on multicomponent prevention initiatives and environmental strategies/policies implemented by communities that have a consistent evidence base of positive results. For these sections, the authors integrate findings from two recent publications, (1) Planning Alcohol Interventions Using NIAAA’s College AIM Alcohol Interventions Matrix (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Planning alcohol interventions using NIAAA’s College AIM Alcohol Interventions Matrix (NIH Publication No. 15-AA-8017). Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, 2015), and (2) Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. Facing addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s report on alcohol, drugs, and health. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). This update also includes a brief review of research literature on positive youth development (PYD), a holistic approach that focuses on developmental characteristics that can lead to positive outcomes including a reduction in negative behaviors among youth such as substance use. The chapter concludes by providing several recommendations to promote high-quality implementation to increase the likelihood of positive results. As funding for comprehensive evaluation efforts of community-based efforts becomes scarce, a communities’ capacity to ensure high-quality implementation should be prioritized.