Substance Use: Community Interventions involving Coalitions or Partnerships to Prevent Substance Use among Youth, Updated 2026

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Substance Use: Community Interventions involving Coalitions or Partnerships to Prevent Substance Use among Youth: Community Preventive Services Task Force Finding and Rationale Statement Ratified June 2024; Updated 2026
• Corporate Authors:
  Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF)
• Description:
  Context: Youth substance use is associated with increased risk for behavioral and academic problems, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, being involved in or experiencing violence, injuries, and mental health symptoms (such as anxiety and depression), among others (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). Preventing or delaying substance use initiation among youth (defined in this review as adolescents ages 10-17 years and young adults ages 18-24 years) reduces later risk for substance use, substance use disorders, and overdose (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). ; In 2023, substance use was common among U.S. high school students and varied by substance. Approximately one-fourth of students reported current use of alcohol (22%), 17% reported current use of marijuana, and 4% reported prescription opioid misuse (CDC 2024). Substance use trends in the United States have changed in recent years. There have been increases in the availability of illegally-made fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, misuse of prescription drugs, popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping products, and changes in the legal and regulatory landscape for cannabis (Hoots et al. 2023). ; Coalitions and partnerships are two organizational approaches to engaging communities in a coordinated substance use prevention effort (SAMHSA 2022, Hutchinson et al. 2021). These initiatives often include 1) engaging community members with needs assessments and prevention planning, 2) building community capacity, 3) selecting and implementing evidence-based practices, and 4) evaluating effectiveness over time (SAMHSA 2022). While community efforts have often focused on alcohol and tobacco prevention, these approaches may provide a framework for application to other substance use prevention priorities including prescription drug misuse, initiation and use of illegal and synthetic opioids, and overdose (SAMHSA 2023, Fishbein et al. 2023, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016, HEALing Communities Study Consortium 2024). ; The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) findings and recommendations for "Substance Use: Community Interventions involving Coalitions or Partnerships to Prevent Substance Use among Youth " are based on systematic reviews of evidence of effectiveness and economic impact. All CPSTF findings and recommendations were originally published in The Community Guide. ; The 2024 Findings and Rationale Statement was updated in July 2026. This update include the addition of these supporting document appendices: Appendix A: Analytic Framework (Effectiveness Review); Appendix B: Search Strategy (Effectiveness Review); Appendix C: Included Studies (Effectiveness Review); Appendix D: Summary Evidence Table (Effectiveness Review).
• Content Notes:
  Publication date supplied by CPSTF
• Subjects:
  • Adolescent
  • Alcohol Drinking
  • Binge Drinking
  • Community Support
  • Early Intervention, Educational
  • Health Education
  • Marijuana Abuse
  • Opiate Overdose
  • Opioid-Related Disorders
  • Practice Guideline
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Substance Use
  • Tobacco
  • Alcohol
  • Substance Use Prevention
  • Community-based Interventions
• Series:
  CPSTF Finding and Rationale Statement
• Subseries:
  Substance Use
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/168653
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• CIO:
  Office of Science (OS)
• Topic:
  Diseases and Conditions
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  46 pdf pages
• Citation:
  The Community Preventive Service Task Force (CPSTF). Substance Use: Community Interventions involving Coalitions or Partnerships to Prevent Substance Use among Youth, Updated 2026. The Community Guide www.thecommunityguide.org. The Community Preventive Service Task Force, Atlanta, Georgia, 2026. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc/168653
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/168653/cdc_168653_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.31 MB]
• Collection(s):
  The Community Guide
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c29e98c09f413faed6e74dd7252746ac515abebfe5922022b0183ae9bfe1d5faf3dc52d0f65a5accde5fc01beaf5d368c82f46994c7bd12d36ab58df3635f642