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A Psycho-Educational Programme Using Audiovisual Media To Prevent Adolescent Substance
A Psycho-Educational Programme Using Audiovisual Media To Prevent Adolescent Substance
A Psycho-Educational Programme Using Audiovisual Media To Prevent Adolescent Substance
To cite this article: Bruce D Calder & Salome Schulze (2015) A psycho-educational programme
using audio-visual media to prevent adolescent substance abuse, Education as Change, 19:1,
36-53, DOI: 10.1080/16823206.2015.1024144
Article views: 39
A psycho-educational programme
using audio-visual media to
prevent adolescent substance
abuse
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Bruce D Calder
Department of Psychology of Education
University of South Africa
Salome Schulze
Department of Psychology of Education, University of South Africa
Email: schuls@unisa.ac.za
Abstract
South Africa has been witnessing an escalation in drug use among adolescents.
This, then, was the phenomenon that prompted the main question behind this
research: How can a psycho-educational programme, using an audio-visual
media resource, be implemented in schools to prevent adolescent substance
abuse? Social cognitive theory (SCT) and self-efficacy theory (SET) were used
as a conceptual framework. Relevant principles were implemented to select
the “Above The Influence” (ATI) as a resource for use in the programme, which
was implemented during seven sessions over two months. The participants
were 26 Grade 10 and Grade 11 students. To determine their perceptions of
the programme and how it was implemented, data were gathered by means of
in-person and online focus groups, interviews, written open-ended questions,
observation and follow-up interviews two months after the programme had ended.
According to the participants, the programme improved their knowledge and
awareness about drug-related issues; their family relationships; their awareness
university
of s outh africa
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Calder and Schulze A psycho-educational programme
of the role of constructive peer relationships; and their communication skills. The
adolescents professed enhanced self-efficacy and increased assertiveness.
This should increase their resistance to drugs. Some recommendations are
made for programme implementation in schools.
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Calder and Schulze A psycho-educational programme
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Problem behaviour may be prevented by approaches that are in accordance with
SCT, SET, and the concept of triadic reciprocality as explained by Bandura (in
Pajares 2002a; 2002b; Bandura 1986). From this perspective, human functioning is
viewed as the product of a dynamic and reciprocal interplay of personal, behavioural
and environmental influences. How adolescents interpret the results of their own
behaviour informs and alters their actions and their personal qualities and, in turn,
informs and alters subsequent behaviour.
According to Bandura (1986:21), among the types of thoughts that affect action,
none is more pervasive than adolescents’ judgements of their capabilities to deal
effectively with different realities. Authors such as Bandura (2008), Maddux (1995)
and Pajares (2002a; 2002b) emphasise an agentic socio-cognitive perspective,
whereby individuals are seen as self-organising and self-regulating. Adolescents
have certain fundamental capabilities to symbolise, plan alternative strategies
(forethought), learn through vicarious experience and self-reflect.
In this investigation, use was made of Bandura’s conception of self-belief as
a main factor to examine how to prevent adolescent substance abuse. According
to Bandura (1986), individuals’ self-beliefs, for example their self-efficacy (SE),
enable them to exercise control over their thoughts, feelings and actions. There are
six primary sources of SE (Maddux 1995:10–11):
(1) performance experiences – clear success or failure is the most powerful
source of SE information;
(2) vicarious experiences – this relates to observational learning and modelling;
(3) imaginal experiences – people can generate beliefs about personal efficacy by
imagining themselves behaving effectively/ineffectively in future situations;
(4) social persuasion by others;
(5) physiological states that influence SE when people associate aversive
physiological arousal with perceived failure; and
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Calder and Schulze A psycho-educational programme
(6) emotional states that can be an additional source of information about SE.
In the next section, a number of drug prevention programmes are discussed in the
light of the conceptual framework.
EVIDENCE-BASED PROGRAMMES
Internationally, schools have adopted evidence-based programmes to enhance
students’ emotional and behavioural competencies and thus protect them from drug
abuse. The HealthWise South Africa: Life Skills for Adolescents (HW) programme
was successfully implemented in the subject Life Orientation in Grades 8 and 9
in 56 schools in Cape Town (Caldwell et al. 2012). The programme focused on
knowledge, skill development, shaping peer norms, and encouraging self-reflection.
Such reflection is in line with the agentic socio-cognitive perspective of Bandura
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Calder and Schulze A psycho-educational programme
reflection and discussion. US adolescents who were exposed to the ATI campaign
were less likely to begin use of marijuana compared with those not exposed to the
campaign (National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign 2011).
In addition to the above, the selection of the ATI (2011) resource was based on
nine principles for suitable programmes, identified in the literature (in Calder 2012;
David, Rao & Robertson 2003; McBride 2005; National Criminal Justice Reference
Service [NCJRS] 2011; National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign 2011; NDMP
2006–2011). According to the principles, a suitable programme/resource needed to:
●● enhance protective factors and reduce risk factors within a population defined
by age, sex, race, geography and institution (principle 1)
●● address all forms of drug abuse, including the use of legal drugs (principle 2)
●● address the type of drug abuse problem in the local community (principle 3)
●● be tailored to address risks specific to audience characteristics, such as age,
gender, and ethnicity (principle 4)
●● improve family relationships (principle 5)
●● increase skills related to studying, communication, peer relationships, SE,
assertiveness and drug resistance (principle 6)
●● retain core elements of the original research-based intervention programme
(principle 7)
●● employ interactive techniques (principle 8)
●● reach populations in multiple settings that include schools (principle 9)
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In accordance with Figure 1, the ATI resource was implemented within a psycho-
educational programme with adolescents, as explained below.
Session 1
A 20 minute DVD using the ATI resource with video material and flash video adverts
was screened. After having watched the DVD, the adolescents completed five open-
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ended questions on a typed form that were part of the resource. The questions asked
included what the main message was that they got from the DVD; what they had
learnt from the activity; what some of the positive or negative influences depicted
in the DVD were; and what caused adolescents to fall under the influence of drugs.
A classroom discussion, facilitated by the researcher, followed. The questions
posed to stimulate discussion focused on what happens to adolescents when they fall
under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Sessions 2 and 3
These sessions consisted of ‘Open their eyes to influence’ individual interview
discussions with the adolescents, using a set of questions similar to those used in
session one. Additional questions, drawn from an ATI interview guide (for an in-
person focus group), were added along with further questions formulated from
the literature review such as: ‘If you are going to a party, to what extent would
you prepare plans of action, so that, if you get into a difficult situation, you can
have a suitable response?’ Extra questions considered relevant to SCT/SET were
derived from the literature. Thus, the adolescents were asked questions designed to
reveal their abilities to symbolise, to plan (forethought), to learn through vicarious
experience, to self-regulate and to self-reflect.
Sessions 4, 5 and 6
These were online sessions. The researcher facilitated discussions in online chat
sessions with adolescents on Facebook by sharing news updates generated from an
ATI Facebook group. The news updates were followed by questions to facilitate
the discussions asynchronously or synchronously, depending on the circumstances.
Examples of questions include: ‘What was the biggest lesson you learned from a
negative experience in 2011? Is there such a thing as positive peer pressure? Who
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has helped shape who you are, and how have they done so? What important lessons
have friends helped you learn this year?’
Session 7
In the last session, the adolescents completed open-ended questions in writing.
Themes that had emerged from sessions one to six served as prompts to explore the
experiences of the participants. For example, participants were asked how helpful
the DVD (ATI) had been to them and to explain their views. Similar questions had
already been posed during individual interviews (sessions 2 and 3) and during the
ATI online Facebook sessions (sessions 4 to 6).
To evaluate the programme content and the method of presentation, the following
research design and methods of data collection were used.
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Educating adolescents on the harmful effects of illicit substances is vital and can
reduce their use (Bhatty & Wu 2013; Culleton et al. 2013). A similarity to the HW
programme (Caldwell et al. 2012) was that the adolescents in this research indicated
that the programme had enhanced their knowledge about drugs. Thus, protective
factors were taken to have been improved (principle 1). Among other things, the
students had learnt vicariously from models in the DVD to avoid heavy drinking and
smoking. Examples include:
I think it’s good to watch the video … learning from other people’s mistakes and seeing how
these teenagers in the video did things that didn’t amount to any good. Also, to learn from
their mistakes so that in life you won’t make the same mistakes (Participant 5, male).
It [the DVD] was very educational and taught us that we mustn’t drink and smoke and that
life is all about learning (Participant 22, female).
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as worthless, I won’t have any support system. This also adds to the peer pressure. If I have
such a low self-esteem and I don’t have any support system, when my friends tell me, “okay
let’s go drinking tonight”, or whatever, because I don’t know how to stand up for myself,
I don’t have anybody who can do that for me or anything like, then I’ll probably do it just
because I want to belong. I want to feel loved and I think that those peers maybe could give
me that. But then if I know that I don’t want to be like that, then I’ll choose to do something
different, I’ll choose to do something better with my life (Participant 14, female).
The main message I got from this video is that in life you get good and bad friends. You need
to make a choice as to how you are going to live with them (Participant 1, female).
All the participants indicated that, as a result of the programme, they had tried to
associate with peers who did not drink and who were not involved in taking drugs.
They indicated that some friends, but not all, were positive role models. Thus, the
adolescents concluded that they should be their own role models and should set good
examples for others to follow.
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Enhanced SE
The participants’ SE was increased by their experiences of exploring the influence
of role-modelling, social persuasions, emotions and choice of behaviour, either with
direct reference to what they had seen in the DVD resource, or by processes of self-
reflection on, and self-evaluation of, their life experiences. Interviews indicated that
the students had gained greater self-confidence and increased SE allowing them to
respond appropriately in various situations. For example:
It [the programme] can definitely help people, especially teenagers that are going through
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this [substance abuse]. It can encourage them and make them better with what they are
doing, and that there are people who can help them. It can improve us and make us better
people and we can learn from our mistakes, and it motivates us to do the right thing in life
(Participant 22, female).
The participants saw in the DVD resource why some adolescents had started drinking
and what they were going through. The participants’ SE increased as a result of their
being encouraged to explore the influence of social persuasions in their lives. The
topic of social persuasions was introduced to facilitate and coach the adolescents
to be more self-reflective on their choice of behaviour, a key aspect of Bandura’s
(2008) agentic perspective.
The participants’ SE also increased due to their exploring the influence of
emotions in their lives. The topic of physical well-being and healthy emotions was
introduced to coach the adolescents to be more self-reflective on their emotional
experiences. The ensuing programme discussions facilitated understanding of the
role of authentic mastery experience in increasing their SE. The topic of free will and
agency was introduced in order to allow the adolescents to explore their perceptions,
and to reflect on their setting of goals for the future, and their behavioural choices.
Earlier research has revealed the importance of goal setting and SE in enabling
adolescents to conform to positive social norms (Carroll, Gordon, Haynes &
Houghton 2013).
Increased assertiveness
Resistance skills training is an important aspect of any prevention programme
(Culleton et al. 2013). SET also indicates that, in terms of its agentic perspective,
intentionality, forethought and self-reflectiveness are essential properties of human
agency and the exercise of free will (Bandura 2008:87–88). Similar to the HW
programme (Caldwell et al. 2012), this programme aimed to increase the adolescents’
assertiveness skills. The following quotes illustrate the programme’s success in this
regard:
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The programme made us much more assertive because now we can understand and we see
things happening because on the video it showed us and we’ve learned from the video from
what we’ve seen (Participant 2, female).
It made me think a lot about life [self-reflectiveness] and things that we take for granted, and
if I had to take anything for granted, I wouldn’t go there now [forethought]. Watching the
movie, I would like to change my life. I wouldn’t do the bad things [intentionality]. If I did
anything bad I would like change for the better [choice] (Participant 22, female).
The relevance of the particular questions provided in the programme, and how
in-depth learning was facilitated, are considered key to its effectiveness (Calder
2012). For example, according to Bandura (1997), adolescents who had difficulty in
controlling their drinking behaviour could develop self-regulative skills and rehearse
flexible plans of action to deal with risky situations in their natural environment.
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When the adolescents were probed in this regard, one student stated:
I would tell the host of the party that I don’t drink alcohol, so if they want me at that party,
they should have juice or something …. They would have to understand that, you know, it’s
important for me to be at that party, maybe it’s a very close friend. I’d probably have to go
but I’d have to explain that, ok, I’m not going to drink, you’ll have to respect my decision
(Participant 14, female).
This is in line with similar programmes that have used the acronym REAL to train
adolescents to refuse, explain, avoid and leave in culturally appropriate ways (Kulis,
Dustman, Brown & Martinez 2013).
Examples of other questions related to SCT/SET and posed to the adolescents
to provide assertiveness training included: ‘How confident are you in coping with
specific situations such as peer pressure to smoke, to drink alcohol or to take drugs?
What do you visualise as the positive consequences of sobriety? What do you
visualise as the negative consequences of drinking? How do you set goals and create
motivating incentives with whatever you do? To what extent has the programme
helped you with social skills training and assertiveness?’ Thus, the discussions gave
the adolescents the opportunity to reflect and to rehearse assertiveness strategies.
Having such strategies available could help them to manage difficult situations in
future.
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indicated that their viewing of the DVD resource had helped them through
observational learning. For example:
An interesting video, it got my full attention. It had me thinking what was going to happen
next and that alcohol and drugs are not worth it, and joining the wrong company can cause
pressure (Participant 11, female).
This is in line with principle 2 that states that programmes should address all forms
of drug abuse and enforce resistance against them. One student stated:
It [the DVD] gave us new reasons why we shouldn’t use drugs and taught us more about
the dangers that we didn’t know. The children speaking about their experiences and what
happened to them, what they’ve been through opened our eyes to see that we don’t want that
to happen to us (Participant 2, female).
Programme presentation
The students who participated in the online sessions evidently enjoyed this learning
experience. Thus, this approach could be recommended, provided that the educational
technology to enable the use of digital communication to best effect is available. The
following comments reported well on this dimension of the programme:
There were a lot of discussions and topics that were talked about, as people had a lot of
different views and opinions which helped me understand to choose a better life and group
of friends. The programme was very well organised and well prepared and should be done
more often. No alterations necessary (Participant 14, female).
The responses we got from people on our Facebook group were very interesting. People also
gave great advice as to how to conduct yourself during the holidays (Participant 23, female).
However, there were some difficulties with a few of the students’ participation in the
chat-room sessions. These obstacles were related to limited availability of internet
facilities at home and the fact that the students could not participate anonymously in
chat-room sessions. The following comment illustrates this:
Some students do not have Internet at home. And, I think people respond differently because
there are different types of communication. People may be good with verbal communication,
or written or electronic communication or just simply being anonymous … not wanting to be
known but they want to be heard (Participant 14, female).
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Regarding the interviews and focus group discussions, the following brief comments
by the participants suggested that they had enjoyed the interactive interviews that
followed the DVD presentations. For example:
The interview was good and changed my life story. The focus groups were quite interesting
… more focused and based on everything which takes place in our country. It brought a great
understanding to every individual and to understand more about influence (Participant 1,
female).
The classroom discussion was very focused … many students did not participate, but those
who took part in the activity did very well (Participant 10, female).
Research has identified the quality of programmes and how programmes are delivered
as key to their effectiveness. Feedback from participants can be used effectively to
improve programmes and make them culturally relevant (Okamoto, Helm, McClain
& Dinson 2012). In this study, some students suggested that the situations depicted
in the DVD media should have more of a storyline to them and that adolescents who
had had to deal with difficult issues themselves should be used as role models. For
example:
You should have actors and make up a story like something probably happens to this girl,
her parents neglected her, and that’s how she got into drugs and how she went through rehab.
If you see a story like that … It should be a whole story like a movie …. You know what ...
I’ve been there, I’ve been in their shoes, and I can tell you it’s not easy, but there is a way
out (Participant 11, female).
Use of indigenous language sub-titles within the DVD resource could also improve
the resource for some students. Interview data indicated that some students favoured
this idea as an aid to understanding. For example:
I think it could [be helpful] because there are people who don’t understand English well.
When they know it’s their language, they are going to want to watch it. If it’s just in English,
then they are going to say that it’s only catering for the whites and the Indians, what about
us (Participant 22, female)?
The adolescents’ comments emphasised the role of teachers in making the programme
work effectively. One participant mentioned:
Sometimes teachers will be harsh with the students – we need someone polite. I think
teachers should participate in the programme so that they can learn drug abusers need love
(Participant 7, male).
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In line with others who see Life Orientation as the relevant subject in which to
implement such prevention programmes (Caldwell et al. 2012), the participants
also suggested that the programme could be incorporated into this subject. Life
Orientation curricula mandate the acquiring of knowledge of the self to make
informed decisions, and of skills to respond effectively to challenges (Department of
Basic Education 2011). Integration of prevention programmes into subject curricula
would also enable interactive and reinforcing classroom discussions to occur on a
regular basis. This pinpoints teachers as key role-players. An adolescent stated:
I think it’s relevant for Life Orientation. I think we should discuss substance use on a deeper
level. But in some schools, teachers are not that reliable. You go to a teacher with confidence
and you tell them something and then you hear that it’s being discussed in the staffroom
(Participant 14, female).
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Teachers should also be trained to add more practical activities to the programme
and perhaps liaise with other schools.
CONCLUSION
The aim of this research was to investigate how a psycho-educational programme,
using an audio-visual media resource, can be implemented in schools to prevent
adolescent substance abuse. The researchers answered the question by implementing
a programme using suitable audio-visual resources in seven sessions over two
months with twenty-six Grade 10 and 11 students, and determining their perceptions
of the programme.
According to the students, the programme improved their knowledge and
awareness about drugs and drug-related issues, their family relationships, their
awareness of the role of constructive peer relationships, and their communication
skills. The adolescents professed to having enhanced SE, increased assertiveness and
their improved resistance to drugs. Thus, the programme enhanced the knowledge
and skills that adolescents require to abstain from alcohol and drug abuse. The
programme stimulated the adolescents’ self-reflection, self-regulation and learning
from vicarious experience.
A number of recommendations can be made. Life Orientation teachers need
to be trained how to implement similar programmes in schools since the quality of
their delivery will determine the programme’s success in enhancing the collective
efficacy of the students. (It is again noted that the researcher who implemented the
programme was not a teacher.) Long-term implementation of programmes is needed
and the effects of this need to be investigated in longitudinal studies.
The study contributed towards new knowledge in the identification of the nine
principles for the selection of resources. It illustrated how a programme could be
implemented, evaluated and improved on by facilitators, for example teachers.
Implementing the ATI resource in the programme was a first for South Africa in
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the area of substance abuse prevention, especially in terms of using the conceptual
framework of SCT/SET and the principles for effective programmes. If such
programmes could be incorporated into school curricula and could be suitably
presented, they may well contribute towards the mental welfare and harmonious
relationships of adolescents.
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