BackgroundThe principal aim of drug use education is to achieve behavioral change. It is increasingly recognized that outcomes of drug use education must be measured in terms of changes in knowledge and long-term sustainable outcomes, such as behavioral modification in everyday life. This study was performed to develop and validate the methods for behavioral modification assessment as the outcomes of the drug use education for adolescents in South Korea.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted for drug use education assessment for 10 to 19 years old age group utilizing the department of health and education website. Based on the Miller’s assessment pyramid model, we derived learning outcomes for adolescents and developed the outcome assessment methods based on the drug use education contents from Korea, USA, UK and Australia. By conducting a focus group interview, 10 professionals evaluated its appropriateness. For further verification, 10 professionals used content validity index(CVI) to analyze the validity of the methods for adolescents in South Korea.ResultsWe derived key learning outcomes of knowledge and behaviors that students should acquire from the drug use education. For adolescents, 15 key learning outcomes and assessment methods for each learning outcomes were derived. The learning outcomes and assessment methods were identified as high degree validity tools (CVI ≥ 0.8) to be applied in drug use education in South Korea, except 1 learning outcome and assessment method (CVI = 0.7). We modified the learning outcomes and assessment method to apply to adolescents in Korea based on the professionals’ opinion.ConclusionsThe results indicate that the developed learning outcomes and assessment methods clarify what students should acquire from completing a drug use education program. Eventually, from utilizing this learning outcomes and assessment methods of drug use education, it is expected to produce an effective education curriculum and tool for safe drug use and prepare students for further education.