Preventing substance use in high risk youth: Evaluation challenges and solutions

Programs to prevent substance use among high risk youth can pose numerous challenges for program evaluators including FEASIBILITY ISSUES such as Participant Recruitment and Retention, Identifying High Risk Youth, and Obtaining a Control/Comparison Group; MEASUREMENT ISSUES such as Social Desirability Bias and Instrument Reliability; METHODOLOGIC ISSUES such as Attrition (both selective and differential), Inadequate Implementation and Variable Dose, Low Statistical Power, Contamination of Comparison Groups, and Low Literacy Skills of Participants. For each of these challenges specific solutions are offered for researchers and practitioners. In general the solutions relate to three themes; 1) incorporate evaluation early into program design; 2) develop a strong partnership with program staff; and 3) be flexible. Also addressed are the need to acknowledge possible bias toward documenting positive outcomes as well as the need to customize evaluation designs for different settings and populations.