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Systematic Review
The authors state:
"The aim of this systematic review was to examine the effects of interventions implemented up to 18 years of age for the primary or secondary prevention of multiple risk behaviours among young people."
The authors state:
"We included in the review a total of 70 eligible studies, of which a substantial proportion were universal school‐based studies (n = 28; 40%). Most studies were conducted in the USA. Moderate‐quality evidence showed that multiple risk behaviour universal school‐based interventions improved the odds of physical activity (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.50; I² = 0%; n = 4 studies; 6441 participants). We considered observed effects to be of public health importance when applied at the population level. We judged the quality of evidence to be moderate or low for most outcomes, primarily owing to concerns around selection, performance, and detection bias and heterogeneity between studies."
The authors state:
"Available evidence is strongest for universal school‐based interventions that target multiple‐ risk behaviours, demonstrating that they may be effective in preventing engagement in tobacco use, alcohol use, illicit drug use, and antisocial behaviour, and in improving physical activity among young people, but not in preventing other risk behaviours.
Results of this review do not provide strong evidence of benefit for family‐ or individual‐level interventions across the risk behaviours studied. However, poor reporting and concerns around the quality of evidence highlight the need for high‐quality multiple‐ risk behaviour intervention studies to further strengthen the evidence base in this field."