Evaluation of the Media Detective Program for Elementary School-Aged Children to Prevention Substance Use

Randomized Controlled Trial Efficacy Study of a Media Literacy Education Substance Use Prevention Program for Elementary School-Aged Children

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a media literacy education program taught be teacher to late elementary school students (grades 3-5) positively affected students' critical thinking skills and substance use-related health outcomes.

Media Detective is a 10-lesson elementary school, substance abuse prevention program developed based upon the Message Interpretation Processing model designed to increase children's critical thinking skills about media messages and reduce intent to use tobacco and alcohol products. The purpose of this study was to conduct a short-term randomized controlled trial study to evaluate the effectiveness of Media Detective for achieving these goals.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be able to read and write in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• None