Five-Year Outcomes of a School-Based Personality-Focused Prevention Program
Conrod P, et al. Five-Year Outcomes of a School-Based Personality-Focused Prevention Program on Adolescent Substance Use Disorder: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Am J Psychiatry. 2025 May 1;182(5):473-482. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20240042. Epub 2025 Jan 15. PMID: 39810554.
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.20240042
This study investigated the 5-year substance use disorder (SUD) outcomes following a selective drug and alcohol prevention program targeting personality risk factors for adolescent substance misuse.
The Co-Venture trial is a cluster randomized trial involving 31 high schools in the greater Montreal area that agreed to conduct annual health behavior surveys for 5 years on the entire 7th grade cohort of assenting students enrolled at the school in 2012 or 2013. Half of all schools were randomly assigned to be trained and assisted in delivering the personality-targeted PreVenture Program to all eligible 7th-grade participants. The intervention consisted of a brief (two-session) group cognitive-behavioral intervention that is delivered in a personality-matched fashion to students who have elevated scores on one of four personality traits linked to early-onset substance misuse: impulsivity, sensation seeking, anxiety sensitivity, or hopelessness.
Mixed-effects multilevel Bayesian models were used to estimate the effect of the intervention on the year-by-year change in probability of SUD. When baseline differences were controlled for, a time-by-intervention interaction revealed positive growth in SUD rate for the control group (b=1.380, SE=0.143, odds ratio=3.97) and reduced growth for the intervention group (b=-0.423, SE=0.173, 95% CI=-0.771, -0.084, odds ratio=0.655), indicating a 35% reduction in the annual increase in SUD rate in the intervention condition relative to the control condition….
This study showed for the first time that personality-targeted interventions might protect against longer-term development of SUD.”
TRC Research Commentary
Roberts K., Epoch Times Reporter. WHO Urges Nations to Hike Taxes on Sugary Drinks, Alcohol, Tobacco by 50 Percent. 3 July 2025. https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/who-urges-nations-to-hike-taxes-on-sugary-drinks-alcohol-tobacco-by-50-percent-5882009
“The World Health Organization (WHO) called on nations to increase the prices of sugary drinks, alcohol, and tobacco by at least 50 percent over the next decade, at a press conference on July 2; part of broader efforts to curb chronic diseases and generate critical public revenue.
The WHO unveiled the new health taxation initiative, dubbed “3 by 35,” at Seville’s U.N. Finance for Development conference.
According to the WHO, NCDs, including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, account for more than 75 percent of all deaths worldwide. A one-time 50 percent price increase on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks could prevent 50 million premature deaths over the next 50 years, it said.
The WHO said it could also generate $3.7 trillion in new revenue globally within five years, or an average of $740 billion per year, which is equivalent to 0.75 percent of global GDP.
According to the statement, the agency has set “an ambitious but achievable goal” of raising $1 trillion by 2035 through the new health tax initiative.
Between 2012 and 2022, nearly 140 countries raised tobacco taxes, which increased real prices by more than 50 percent on average, WHO said, adding that this shows “that large-scale change is possible.”
Note: The Thai Health Foundation has been advocating for taxing tobacco and alcohol in Thailand since its establishment in 2005, and has used tobacco and alcohol tax revenues for its activities to prevent premature death. Stephen Hamann
