Abstract

This review is divided into two parts. In the first part we have attempted to summarize the results of innumerable studies about the effectiveness of prevention programs carried out in the last years, up to the most recent and important meta-analytic reviews, that have confirmed the substantial validity of the preventive approach. These results, testifing the actual effectiveness of prevention programs, have contributed in increasing the interest about this field and have stimulated new research. In the second part we have presented the main information that come from literature on the effectiveness of the prevention programs. In fact, it's essential to identify which interventions resulted more effective and to identify the features, theoretical and methodological, of a successful program. For prevention workers, this awareness, in the planning and implementing of a program, can prove decisive in preventing failure.