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Adolescent Thinking . - <br /> Much psychological research indicates that adolescents think differently than adults. <br /> These differences make adolescents more vulnerable to taking risks with their health. <br /> The following differences are most relevant to preventing substance use and promot- <br /> ing resistance self-efficacy. <br /> <br /> 1. Difficulty in considering the future consequences of current decisions. <br /> <br /> 2. Difficulty in applying information about risks and consequences to them- <br /> selves; that is, they often believe themselves to be immune to negative events. <br /> Some psychologists refer to this belief as "the myth of personal immortaliw:' <br /> <br /> 3. Tendency to disCount known risks ("Everyone in m?family smokes, but no one <br /> has gotten lung cancer.'~. <br /> <br /> 4. Difficulty in understanding probability and its meaning for their own lives <br /> and health. <br /> <br /> 5. Poor decision-making skills. Of particular note is the tendency to discount <br /> long-term consequences in making decisions and a general inability to weigh <br /> costs and benefits to produce rational decisions. <br /> <br />The Project ALERT curriculum is designed to be sensitive to these differences. For <br />example, it stresses immediate and short-term consequences of substance' use rather <br />than long-term consequences whenever possible. It emphasizes the possibility of <br />alcohol-related accidents and points out that some health consequences occur with <br />certainty if a person smokes cigarettes or marijuana even when the dosage is small. <br />Addiction/dependence is emphasized as a key health consequence of drug use <br />because it may occur quickly and is quite likely to happen. <br /> <br />Among the short-term consequences, social consequences are of most concern to <br />teenagers. Young people don't want bad breath or yellow teeth, and they want <br />very much to be in control. Indeed, the period of adolescence is in essence a <br />struggle to gain such control. Physical and psychological addiction, as well as loss <br />of control while high, are emotionally objectionable states to young people <br />because they imply lack of control. Hence, these consequences are strongly <br />emphasized in the curriculum. <br /> <br />Program Effectiveness <br /> Project ALERT was tested with over 7,000 seventh and eighth graders at thirty <br /> schools in California and Oregon. The schools were in urban, suburban and rural <br /> communities encompassing wide socioeconomic and ethnic diversity. The test <br /> included a control group of students who did not receive the lessons, enabling com- <br /> parison of results between students who received the program and those who did <br /> <br />Introduction and Overview <br /> <br /> <br />