| Summary: | Substance abuse is a prevalent occurrence among adolescents. A review of the
literature revealed that adolescent substance abuse has a strong connection to their
academic performance. School counselors address adolescents' academic and
personal/social needs by providing services through prevention education, responsive
services, and collaboration with community members. Yet, there is a dearth of literature
as to whether pre-service school counselors are prepared to deal with substance abuse
issues.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate pre-service substance abuse training
provided in CACREP accredited school counseling programs. The instrument utilized
was entitled School Counselor Pre-Service Preparation in Grief/Loss and Substance
Abuse Counseling. The survey included three questions concerning substance abuse
training for pre-service school counselors and three questions concerning Grief/Loss
training. The substance abuse questions and data were utilized for this particular study.
The surveys were mailed to a total of 150 CACREP accredited school counseling
programs, and 79 programs responded to the survey, resulting in a response rate of 53
percent.
The results revealed that the majority of CACREP accredited programs in this
study offered substance abuse training through either required or elective coursework.
Limitations of the study, implications for CACREP accredited programs, and
recommendations for future research are also discussed. === Graduation date: 2004
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