# Education Improves Perceived Control but Not Risk Identification in Adolescents Regarding Fentanyl

## TL;DR

A study found that education helps adolescents feel more in control of substance use but does not improve their ability to identify fentanyl risks.

## Contribution

The study introduces a school-based fentanyl awareness curriculum and evaluates its impact on adolescent perception and risk identification.

## Key findings

- Education increased perceived control over substance-related actions (p-value = 0.04).
- No significant improvement in confidence to identify fentanyl was observed.
- Most participants were Hispanic or Latino, highlighting demographic trends in substance use education.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: In 2022, 2.2 million adolescents were diagnosed with substance use disorders, including 265,000 with opioid use disorder. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health revealed that 130,000 adolescents misused prescription pain medications, often obtaining them from friends or relatives. This age group perceives weekly heroin use as less risky than those younger or older. Methods: A questionnaire was developed for 7th to 12th graders in a rural Texas school district as part of a fentanyl awareness curriculum. The questionnaire included Likert scale, multiple choice, and yes/no questions. The participants were categorized into younger (grades 7th and 8th) and older students (grades 9th through 12th), and associations were explored between demographic characteristics, responses, and grade groups using chi-square tests. To assess confidence, behavior, and the impact of education, we used chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: The participants (n = 94; 85.11%) identified as Hispanic or Latino, with a smaller percentage identifying as White or more than one race. An association was found between feeling more in control of actions related to substances and fentanyl (p-value = 0.04) after receiving education. No association was found between education and confidence in identifying fentanyl. Conclusions: This study aligns with a surge in fentanyl-related overdose deaths in a high-intensity drug trafficking region. Recent fentanyl overdoses among school-age children prompted legislative changes in 2023, making this study valuable for understanding the epidemic within the geographical context. These results suggest that school-based education may play a role in strengthening adolescents’ behavioral intentions to fentanyl exposure, though additional efforts are needed to improve risk identification.