LST Program Overview

Life Skills Training (LST) is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.

Developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, a leading prevention expert, Life Skills Training is backed by over 20 scientific studies and is recognized as a Model or Exemplary program by an array of government agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.
Rather than merely teaching information about the dangers of drug abuse, Life Skills Training promotes healthy alternatives to risky behavior through activities designed to:
  • Teach students the necessary skills to resist social (peer) pressures to smoke, drink, and use drugs
  • Help students to develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence
  • Enable students to effectively cope with anxiety
  • Increase their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse
  • Enhance cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors
Life Skills Training

Contact: Denise Sather
satherdl@milwaukee.k12.wi.us
Room 265
Phone: 475-8438
Fax: 475-8455

Patricia Scrutchions
CS Room 256
475-8834 office
475-8455 fax
scrutcpd@milwaukee.k12.wi.us

Grade Level Curriculum

Supplemental Resources

  • Research
    • Spoth, R. L., Randall, G., Trudeau, L., Shin, C., Redmond, C. ( 2008). Substance use outcomes 5 1/2 years past baseline for partnership-based, family school preventive interventions.. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 96, 57-68.
    • Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., & Nichols, T. R. ( 2006). Effects of a school-based drug abuse prevention program for adolescents on HIV risk behaviors in young adulthood.. Prevention Science, 7, 103-112.

      Early onset of substance use among adolescents has been found to be associated with later risky sexual behaviors. This study examined long-term follow-up data from a large randomized school-based drug prevention trial to (1) investigate the long-term impact of the prevention program on drug use and sexual behaviors that put one at elevated risk for HIV infection; and (2) use growth modeling procedures to examine potential mechanisms of intervention effects. The intervention had a direct protective effect on HIV risk behavior in the overall sample in young adulthood. Furthermore, among participants receiving 60% or more of the prevention program, analyses showed that the intervention significantly reduced growth in alcohol and marijuana intoxication over the course of adolescence, which in turn was associated with a reduction in later HIV risk behavior.
    • Botvin, G. J., Griffin, K. W.,Nichols, T. R.. ( 2006). Preventing youth violence and delinquency through a universal school-based prevention approach.. Prevention Science, 7, 403-408.

      Violence is an important public health problem among adolescents in the United States. Substance use and violence tend to co-occur among adolescents and appear to have similar etiologies. The present study examined the extent to which a comprehensive prevention approach targeting an array of individual-level risk and protective factors and previously found effective in preventing tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use is capable of decreasing violence and delinquency. Findings showed significant reductions in violence and delinquency for intervention participants relative to controls. Stronger prevention effects were found for students who received at least half of the preventive intervention. These effects include less verbal and physical aggression, fighting, and delinquency. The results of this study indicate that a school-based prevention approach previously found to prevent tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use can also prevent violence and delinquency.
    • Spoth, R.L., Clair, S., Shin, C., Redmond, C. ( 2006). Long-Term Effects of universal preventative interventions on methamphetamine use Among Adolescents. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine

      This study examined the long-term effects of universal preventive interventions on methamphetamine use by adolescents in the general population during their late high school years.
    • Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., Nichols, T. R., & Doyle, M. M. ( 2003). Effectiveness of a universal drug abuse prevention approach for youth at high risk for substance use initiation. Preventive Medicine, 36, 1-7.

      Universal school-based prevention programs for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use are typically designed for all students within a particular school setting. However, it is unclear whether such broad-based programs are effective for youth at high risk for substance use initiation. The effectiveness of a universal drug abuse preventive intervention was examined among youth from 29 inner-city middle schools participating in a randomized, controlled prevention trial. Findings indicated that youth at high risk who received the program reported less smoking, drinking, inhalant use, and polydrug use at the one-year follow-up assessment compared to youth at high risk in the control condition that did not receive the intervention.
    • Zollinger, T. W., Saywell, R. M., Muegge, C. M., Wooldridge, J. S., Cummings, S. F., & Caine, V. A. ( 2003). Impact of the Life Skills Training curriculum on middle school students tobacco use in Marion County, Indiana, 1997-2000.. Journal of School Health, 73, 338-346.

      This study assessed the impact of the Life Skills Training curriculum on Marion County, Ind., middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, and ability to make good lifestyle decisions. From 1997 to 2000, students in grades six to eight in the study schools received the Life Skills Training curriculum. Survey data (n = 1,598) were used to compare tobacco use behavior, attitudes, and knowledge of those exposed with those not exposed to the program. Of the students surveyed, 12.5% were currently smoking. There were significantly fewer current smokers, and more students exposed to the program indicated they intended to stay smoke-free.
    • Trudeau, L., Spoth, R., Lillehoj, C., Redmond, C., & Wickrama, K. ( 2003). Effects of a preventive intervention on adolescent substance use initiation, expectancies, and refusal intentions.. Prevention Science, 4, 109-122.

      This study evaluated the effects of a school-based preventive intervention (Botvin, G. J. 1996, 2000) on growth trajectories of substance initiation (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana), expectancies and refusal intentions. A rural mid-western sample (N = 847) provided three waves of data from middle school students. Growth curve analyses demonstrated that the intervention significantly slowed the rate of increase in substance initiation and significantly slowed the rate of decrease in refusal intentions. The intervention also slowed the rate of decrease in negative outcome expectancies, although the significance level was only marginal. A multiple group comparison showed that the impact of initial levels of substance initiation on growth trajectories of refusal intentions differed between conditions, suggesting that the intervention decreased the effect of early substance initiation on the rate of change over time for refusal intentions.
    • Botvin, G. J., Griffin, K. W., Paul, E., & Macaulay, A. P.. ( 2003). Preventing tobacco and alcohol use among elementary school students through Life Skills Training.. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 12, 1-18.

      The present study examined the effectiveness of a substance abuse prevention program in preventing tobacco and alcohol use among elementary school students in grades 3 through 6. The prevention program teaches social resistance skills and general personal and social competence skills. Rates of substance use behavior, attitudes, knowledge, normative expectations, and related variables were examined among students from 20 schools who were randomly assigned to either receive the prevention program or serve as a control group who did not. Individual-level analyses controlling for gender, race, and family structure showed that intervention students reported less smoking in the past year, higher anti-drinking attitudes, increased substance use knowledge and skills-related knowledge, lower normative expectations for smoking and alcohol use, and higher self-esteem at the posttest assessment, relative to control students. School-level analyses showed that annual prevalence rate was 61% lower for smoking and 25% lower for alcohol use at the posttest assessment in schools that received the prevention program when compared with control schools. In addition, mean self-esteem scores were higher in intervention schools at the posttest assessment relative to control schools.
      Botvin, G.J., Griffin, K.W., Diaz, T., & Ifill-Williams, M. ( 2001). Drug abuse prevention among minority adolescents: Posttest and one-year follow-up of a school-based preventive intervention.. Prevention Science, 2(1), 1-13.

      The present study tested a school-based drug abuse preventive intervention in a sample of predominantly minority students (N D 3,621) in 29 New York City schools. The prevention program taught drug refusal skills, antidrug norms, personal self-management skills, and general social skills in an effort to provide students with skills and information for resisting drug offers, to decrease motivations to use drugs, and decrease vulnerability to drug use social influences. Results indicated that those who received the program reported less smoking, drinking, drunkenness, inhalant use, and polydrug use relative to controls. The program also had a direct positive effect on several cognitive, attitudinal, and personality variables believed to play a role in adolescent substance use. Mediational analyses showed that prevention effects on some drug use outcomes were mediated in part by risk-taking, behavioral intentions, and peer normative expectations regarding drug use.
  • Upcoming Events:

    Upcoming LST training and parent program dates and locations will be listed soon.  Please stay tuned!





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