An evaluation of the ho‘ouna pono curriculum: A pilot study of culturally grounded substance abuse prevention for rural hawaiian youth

This pilot study evaluated the Ho‘ouna Pono curriculum, which is a culturally grounded, school- based, drug prevention curriculum tailored to rural Native Hawaiian youth. The curriculum focuses on culturally relevant drug resistance skills training and is aligned with the State of Hawai‘i academic standards. Six Hawai‘i Island public middle/ intermediate schools randomly assigned to intervention or treatment- as-usual comparison conditions (N = 213) were evaluated in this study. Paired sample t-tests separating intervention and comparison groups were conducted, as well as mixed models that adjusted for random effects (nesting) at the school level. Findings suggested that the curriculum was effective in maintaining youths’ use of culturally relevant drug resistance skills, as well as decreasing girls’ aggressive behaviors, at six- month follow-up. Unanticipated findings also suggested areas for curricular improvement, including more emphasis on normative drug education. Implications for future research and development of the curriculum are discussed.