Teacher ratings of student risk for substance use as a function of specialized training

FRANÇAIS :
Le but de cette étude était de déterminer si on pouvait perfectionner la capacité des enseignants à identifier les élèves à risque d'abus de drogues. 63 enseignants de 4ème ont participé à l'étude. La moitié suivait une formation, l'autre servait de groupe-témoin. Tous les élèves de 4ème du district scolaire étaient observés quant à leur risque d'usage de produits. Les évaluations des enseignants et les résultats d'observation des élèves ont été comparés. Après formation, il s'est avéré que les enseignants étaient plus compétents dans l'évaluation des risques de leurs élèves à consommer des drogues.
ENGLISH :
The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers' abilities to identify accurately students who are at risk for substance abuse can be improved through attendance at a specialized training program. Sixty-three eighth-grade teachers participated in the study. Of these, thirty-six teachers participated in the training sequence (intervention group), while the remaining twenty-seven teachers served as a comparison group. All eighth-grade students in the school district were surveyed regarding their substance usage. Teachers rated the students regarding their risk for substance usage. Teachers' ratings and students' reported substance usage were compared to assess the percentage of matching responses. After training, the intervention teachers provided more accurate ratings among usage categories than did the comparison teachers. The trained teachers were better at correctly identifying the students who were at risk for substance use. (Authors' abstract)