Students who participate in substance abuse prevention education in grades six and seven demonstrate reduced risk for abuse of prescription medication well into young adulthood, according to a recent study. Researchers compared the results from students who participated in three different types of prevention programs with a control group of students who did not receive prevention education. Results showed a reduction in the risk for prescription drug misuse when the students reached 17 to 25 years of age. The risk reduction ranged from 20% to 65% compared with the control group that received no prevention education. “The intervention effects were comparable or even stronger for participants who had started misusing substances prior to the middle school interventions, suggesting that these programs also can be successful in higher-risk groups,” stated the lead author of the study Dr Richard Spoth of the Partnerships in Prevention Science Institute at Iowa State University. The study, “Longitudinal Effects of Universal Preventive Intervention on Prescription Drug Misuse: Three Randomized Controlled Trials With Late Adolescents and Young Adults,” was published in the American Journal of Public Health. More information is available in a news release from the National Institutes of Health.