SynthesisAddiction (Abingdon, England)2026
A systematic review of reviews on comprehensive community initiatives to prevent or reduce alcohol and other drug harms.
Synthesis in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Definitions of community-level approaches to address substance-related harms and lessons learned: A systematic overview of reviews.American journal of community psychology · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of reviews on comprehensive community initiatives to prevent or reduce alcohol and other drug harms.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsComprehensive community initiatives (CCI) aimed at reducing or preventing alcohol or other drug (AOD) harms incorporate multiple initiatives delivered to whole communities to effect community-level change on sociocultural and environmental factors. CCIs have gained in popularity and have been subject to extensive research; however, CCIs comprise multiple initiatives and evidence for effectiveness by substance type has been mixed. This umbrella review aimed to synthesise information from published reviews to describe the combination of CCIs with the most consistent evidence for impact for each substance type.
methodWe searched Embase/Medline, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, two online registries and hand searched references for English language reviews without date restriction and conducted an umbrella review using mixed methods synthesis (PROSPERO CRD42023432567). We considered all types of reviews focused on CCIs and addressing AOD use or harms. Two reviewers independently screened all articles and conducted full text review. Extraction of main results relating to CCI impact and quality assessment using AMSTAR-2 and SANRA was completed by two independent reviewers and corrected covered area analysis conducted.
resultsWe identified 87 reviews spanning three decades; 14 were rated high quality. Most reviews considered individual substances [alcohol (43 reviews) or tobacco (35 reviews) and rarely illicit drugs (16 reviews)], and some limited scope to 'at-risk' community members [young people (26 reviews) and First Nations (8 reviews)]. Although the evidence did not meet criteria for consistent impact, communities should consider implementing school-based (supported by 36 of 50 reviews) and parenting-related (29 of 37 reviews) activities that are supported by media campaign where feasible (29 of 51 reviews). CCIs have the most consistent impact on alcohol (supported by 24 of 32 reviews) and tobacco-related outcomes (22 of 35 reviews), though illicit drugs are yet to be adequately assessed.
conclusionsAlthough the available evidence regarding comprehensive community initiatives is largely inconsistent, the addition of parenting-related activities to existing school-based education campaigns is likely to improve effectiveness. A media campaign may extend their reach to those outside school settings. Future evaluation of CCIs should measure impact of activities in isolation where possible and incorporate process measures to gauge community engagement and empowerment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.