Research and Practice of Health Promotion, Volume 01: Gender-Related Drug Prevention for Youths

Although the knowledge gained in recent youth health and risk research was generally able to demonstrate that the stresses and developmental problems encountered in the youth phase differ between girls and boys, as do their resources for coping with these stresses, drug prevention still gives too little consideration to gender as a distinguishing feature. Today, gender-related and gender-specific drug prevention is still generally regarded as an additional service "rendered" alongside "actual" gender-neutral drug prevention. The consequence is that, in a time when resources are generally being curtailed, projects of this kind are often jeopardised. However, there is a need for sensitisation towards gender issues in drug prevention and this should become a matter of course.

This and other results of a research project commissioned by the BZgA are presented in Volume 1 of the specialist booklet series "Research and Practice of Health Promotion". The authors give an overview of gender-specific and gender-neutral theories and document 22 projects researched in practice. On this basis, the authors formulate cornerstone concepts for gender-related drug prevention and recommend criteria for planning and evaluating gender-related projects in practice.