(This resource corresponds to Module 6.)

The LifeSkills® Training (LST) program is a school-based tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse prevention program for adolescents, focusing on personal and social skills in combination with drug-resistance skills and prevention-related information. The U.S. Department of Education has rated this program as Exemplary, and CSAP has rated this program as Model.

LST seeks to decrease the rates of onset and prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use in young adolescents by:

• Increasing students’ awareness of the kinds of environmental pressures they are likely to encounter
  
• Teaching them specific skills for effectively resisting these pressures
  
• Using peer leaders as program providers

LST was originally designed for students attending middle or junior high school, to be taught over three years. It contains 15 class periods during the first year, 10 booster sessions during the second, and 5 sessions during the third. The program covers three major content areas:

• Personal self-management skills, such as decision-making and problem-solving skills, self-control skills for coping with anxiety, and self improvement skills
  
• General social skills, including skills for communicating effectively, learning to meet new people, and developing healthy friendships
  
• Drug-resistance skills and information, designed to impact on knowledge and attitudes concerning drug use, perceived norms (i.e., perceptions of what others think and do related to drug use), and skills for resisting drug use influences from the media and peers

A new version of the LST program, suitable for upper elementary school students, has recently been developed. It contains material for a total of 24 classes (8 classes per year) to be taught from grades 3 through 5 or 4 through 6.

The program can be taught by health professionals, teachers, or peer leaders, following participation in a two-day training workshop. Program materials, which include a teacher’s manual, student guide, and audiocassette tape, cost approximately $5 per student per year.

The LST program has been extensively evaluated over the past 16 years in more than a dozen major federally funded studies by researchers at Cornell University Medical College and has been found to have significant and lasting effects in reducing youth substance use.