The effects of a 36-hour Marine Corps substance abuse awareness seminar on supervisors' knowledge and perceptions of an employee alcoholism program

This study investigated the effects of the 36-hour Marine Corps Substance Abuse Awareness Seminar on the knowledge and perceptions of supervisors, as assessed by the Baker Knowledge Inventory and the Demographic Information Inventory, before and after substance abuse training, and compared these results with a similar group of supervisors who had not participated in the seminar. The primary component of knowledge assessed in this study was knowledge of the Marine Corps Substance Abuse Program, and the perceptions assessed in this study were perceptions of the confidentiality, staff competence, effectiveness, and management support for the Marine Corps Substance Abuse Program. A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest design, with a 126-subject experimental and 39-subject control group, was used. Four hypotheses were tested using dependent and independent one- and two-tailed t tests, with the following results: no significant difference existed between the mean pretest scores for the two groups; no significant difference existed between the mean pretest and posttest scores for the control group; the experimental group's mean posttest score was significantly higher than the control group's mean posttest score; and the experimental group's mean posttest score was significantly higher than their mean pretest score. Additional data analysis revealed that the experimental group's mean posttest scores on the knowledge scale and the perception scale, taken separately, were significantly higher than its mean pretest scores on the same scales, taken separately. From the results of hypothesis testing and ad hoc data analysis, the researcher concluded that supervisory training was a means of significantly improving supervisors' knowledge and perceptions of an Employee Assistance Program.