New research says mental health program in high schools reduces drug disorders

Two men pass a marijuana joint at Cannabis Culture in Montreal, Dec. 16, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL — New research suggests that students who participate in a mental health program in their first year of high school develop fewer substance abuse disorders by the time they graduate.

Released today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the study by researchers in Quebec and Nova Scotia indicates that substance abuse dropped by as much as 80 per cent in some schools that used the program compared to schools that didn’t.

Nearly 4,000 students at 31 schools in the greater Montreal area took part in the study, which involved offering a mental health intervention program to Grade 7 students considered at risk of developing substance abuse disorders.

The students were given two 90-minute workshops helping them manage such things as impulsivity, sensation seeking, sensitivity to anxiety and negative thinking, and students were monitored through Grade 11.

The study used the program PreVenture, developed by Sherry Stewart, a psychologist and professor at Dalhousie University, and Patricia Conrod, a psychologist and professor at Université de Montréal.

Researchers at the two universities say that over the trial period there was an increase in substance abuse disorders at all participating schools, but that rise was less pronounced at schools that offered the PreVenture program.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025.

Jean-Benoit Legault, The Canadian Press