Blueprints
Promising Programs Fact Sheets
| Guiding Good
Choices (GGC) |
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Program Overview
Guiding Good Choices (GGC), formerly Preparing for the
Drug-Free Years (PDFY), is a family competency training
program (part of the Families That Care series) that
promotes healthy, protective parent-child interactions
and reduces children’s risk for early substance
use initiation. It is based on the social development
model, which theorizes that enhancing protective factors
such as effective parenting practices will decrease
the likelihood that children will engage in problem
behaviors. While most sessions are focused on improving
parenting skills and parents’ self efficacy, the
program also provides students with peer pressure refusal
skills and has demonstrated reductions in children’s
alcohol initiation.
Program Targets
The program has been successfully implemented with families
of middle school children who resided in rural, economically
stressed neighborhoods in the Midwest.
Program Content
GGC is a weekly, five-session multimedia program that
strengthens parents’ child-rearing techniques,
parent-child bonding, and children’s peer resistance
skills. Children are required to attend one session,
which focuses on peer pressure. The other four sessions
involve only parents, and include instruction in the
following areas:
- Identifying risk factors for adolescent substance
use and creating strategies to enhance the family’s
protective processes.
- Developing effective parenting skills, particularly
those regarding substance use issues. Such techniques
include creating clear guidelines regarding substance
use, monitoring compliance with these guidelines,
and providing effective and appropriate consequences
when necessary.
- Managing anger and family conflict.
- Providing opportunities for positive child involvement
in family activities.
Program Outcomes
Evaluations of GGC have demonstrated positive effects
for intervention parents and children. Compared to members
of a control group, GGC parents have shown:
- Improvement in general child management skills,
for mothers and fathers;
- Increases in parent-child affective quality; and
- Higher ratings of mothers’ self-efficacy.
Compared to members of a control group, GGC children
have demonstrated:
- Significantly less alcohol initiation, and
- Positive trends in reducing tobacco and marijuana
use.
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