Adolescents and alcohol. The analysis of results of a preventive intervention

This paper discusses the results of a preventative intervention evaluation research realized by ASL [Local Health Department] Salerno “Servizio Adolescenti” [Adolescent Service] with the partnership of the Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Sociali e della Comunicazione of University of Salerno within the “Guadagnare Salute in Adolescenza” project [Earn health during Adolescence] promoted by Italian Ministry of Health. The goal of the project is to raise awareness on the risks of alcohol consumption, especially on the effects of alcohol on driving. The preventive intervention concerned 884 students between14 and 18 years old, resident in the area of Province of Salerno in the south of Italy. The investigation was carried out at three different moments. In the first phase, adolescents answered a questionnaire (ex-ante) in order to investigate the initial level of alcohol consumption awareness: effects of alcohol on driving, limits of alcohol consumption permitted by law and effects on the body. The second step was an information campaign and training about alcohol consumption through the use of information material and meetings with teachers, acting as “preventive intervention multipliers”. The teachers were previously trained by health and social workers from ASL Salerno. Furthermore, adolescents answered a second questionnaire (ex-post) to measure the effects of the formation and information activities. The final aim of this paper is, on one hand, to analyse the awareness levels reached by adolescents after a preventative intervention, while on the other, to evaluate the efficiency of the preventative intervention in different groups of adolescents.