Tackling Adolescent Substance Abuse: Lombardy’s Project as an Example of LifeSkills Training

Substance abuse prevention consists in providing a subject at risk with the possibility to act freely from peer-group and drugs market influence by promoting the appropriate skills. This contribution analyses LifeSkills Training, a program for the prevention of substance abuse, as implemented in the Lombardy region, Northern Italy. Parents and teachers involved in the training were interviewed in order to assess the goodness of this practice for schools and families alike. The results emerging from the Italian version of the program show the development of better skills in managing the teacher-class relationship, as well as an increased ability to listen within the parent-child relationship. Although they still need the test of time, these achievements are encouraging. Hopefully, the LST experience will have a follow-up and spread further without disregarding the parents, a problem encountered during the dissemination of the program.