Although considerable progress has been made in the past decade, further research is needed. To this end, additional research is underway in order to better understand the mechanisms through which the LST approach prevents ATOD use; to understand the LST program’s effectiveness with different populations (particularly minority youth); and to determine the program’s generalizability to other empirically and theoretically related behaviors, such as violence.
One obvious limitation of this type of prevention approach is that it addresses a limited set of etiological factors within school settings. More research is therefore needed either to
extend this approach to other intervention modalities (e.g., approaches targeting the family or community) or to integrate it within a more comprehensive intervention strategy targeting a broader array of etiological factors