Mapping the Landscape: A Scoping Review of Evaluated Substance Use Harm Reduction Programs for Youth.

Abstract

Youth are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes from substance use, and there is limited evaluated drug education targeting youth in Canada or the United States of America (US). This scoping review identified and synthesized existing literature on evaluated harm reduction substance use education programs for school-aged youth in Canada and the US. Following the methodological framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley, a database search identified relevant articles published between 2012 and 2025 through MEDLINE, Scopus, APA PsycInfo, ERIC, Academic Search Complete, Social Work Abstracts, and Embase. Of 1912 unique citations, 20 studies met our inclusion criteria; of these, 18 programs were implemented in the US and two in Canada with various target populations: high school (n = 4), middle school (n = 6), elementary school (n = 2), at-risk youth (n = 3) and other (n = 5). Most programs focused on reducing substance use frequency (n = 16) and used quantitative evaluation methods (n = 16). The results highlighted a shortage of evaluated harm reduction programs for school-aged youth in Canada and the US. These findings will support the development and evaluation of a drug education strategy incorporating harm reduction principles for school-aged youth.