Reviews of school-based drug prevention programmes conclude that the majority of such interventions are universal drug awareness programmes that are either untested or that have only mild positive or even harmful effects [38, 39, 40]. There has been much more systematic research on effective prevention of hazardous drinking in undergraduates [41, 42]. Recent reviews of the characteristics of effective school-based hazardous drinking prevention programmes conclude that targeting high-risk students and using interactive activities are components essential to maximising efficacy [43, 44]. A set of recommendations from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [45] identified three types of targeted programmes that are most effective (i.e. “Tier I″) in prevention of hazardous drinking among undergraduates: programmes employing a combination of cognitive–behavioural skill training and motivational enhancement; those involving brief motivational enhancement; and those challenging positive alcohol expectancies. Motivational enhancement techniques also show promise in undergraduate drug use prevention [46]. These identified characteristics are all components that can be included in interventions that differentially target personality risk profiles for substance misuse.
