Development and Pilot Evaluation of a Drug Abuse Prevention Program for Elementary School Children in Korea

Objective The purpose of the present study was to develop and pilot test a culturally tailored, developmentally appropriate, drug abuse prevention program for Korean elementary school children.Methods By grounding the program in the framework of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), the program aimed to prevent drug abuse by enhancing children’s social and emotional competencies. Separate curricula were developed for lower and upper elementary to align with children’s cognitive and socio-emotional developmental stages. Expert feedback was solicited from child psychiatrists and elementary school teachers. The program was implemented in an elementary school with 194 participants. Program feasibility and acceptability were assessed through facilitator evaluations and student satisfaction surveys. For upper elementary students (n=99), pre–post measures of self-esteem and attitudes toward drug abuse were also analyzed.Results Experts and facilitators reported that the program was easy to implement, developmentally appropriate, and well understood by students. Satisfaction surveys indicated high levels of engagement and perceived learning. The mean self-esteem score increased from 27.3±4.2 to 28.2±3.9 (Cohen’s d=0.21). The attitude toward drug abuse score also improved from 15.2±2.3 to 15.6±3.1 (Cohen’s d=0.14). Although both changes did not reach statistical significance, the qualitative and quantitative data support the program’s feasibility and positive trend.Conclusion This pilot study suggests that an SEL-based, culturally adapted prevention program is feasible and well accepted in Korean elementary schools. While larger-scale studies are required, early implementation of interactive, developmentally sensitive programs holds promise for strengthening protective factors against drug abuse in children.