An Undergraduate Student‐Led Neuroscience Outreach Program Shows Promise in Shifting Teen Attitudes About Drugs

ABSTRACT

Drug Outreach, Promoting Awareness (DOPA) is an undergraduate outreach program for local high school students designed to convey the neurobiological basis, risks, and addictive potential of commonly abused drugs. Here we describe DOPA and evaluate the program, including its impact on high school student attitudes about drug harm risk and addiction. Undergraduate neuroscience students versed in the neurobiology, physiology, and policy of drugs are trained in active learning methods, enabling them to create engaging and interactive classroom‐based educational materials. Survey results showed that participation in DOPA increased high school student perceptions of the addictive potential and harm risk of drugs, which studies have shown to be inversely correlated with drug‐taking. High school students also responded positively to the interactive nature of the program. These findings demonstrate how extensively trained undergraduates who are close peers to high school students can effectively lead science outreach initiatives and shift adolescent attitudes about drugs.

Abstract

Lay abstract: Here we describe a novel high school drug outreach program led by undergraduate neuroscience students. We investigated how the program impacted high school student attitudes about the harm risks and addictive potential of commonly used drugs of abuse. The program was valued highly by the undergraduates, and surveys showed increased awareness of the health risks of several drugs among high school students. The findings demonstrate how using an interactive, peer‐led approach to drug outreach can positively impact adolescents.