Bows and Arrows is an Australian parent education program that seeks to provide a supportive environment for discussion and exchange, opportunities to reflect on parenting behavior, development of skills and strategies, and awareness of community supports for families. The course recognizes the range of learning styles and the value of adults'…

Family skills training for disadvantaged families in Adelaide, Australia, includes awareness of cultural diversity, group process, and family weekend camps. The program is expanding to help parents deal with adolescent problems such as running away and alcohol/drug abuse. (SK)

Critically examines community development assumptions through historical analysis and mapping of political discourse. Using the methods of Foucault, Said, and Gramsci, demonstrates how participatory research, concerned with releasing people's knowledge through transformation, can expose and resist dominant discourses. (SK)

Alcohol-related beliefs of children in grades 1, 4, and 7 (at a Catholic school in Brooklyn, NY) were examined to identify age-related differences in the content and the salience of positive versus negative conditions. Results indicate general developmental trends for both positive and negative effects, with older children scoring significantly…

Explores the role of the college student peer counselor as a complement to the student affairs support services in the area of alcohol and substance abuse. The author discusses a viable student peer counseling model which integrates readily available assistance from college student affairs services and the skills of a trained student peer…

Aggregate data on drug use may be misleading relative to the magnitude of the problem among specific segments of the population. This paper analyzes several false but commonly held beliefs about drug use in the African American community reflected in the literature and explores the implications of such beliefs for treatment, intervention, and…

There is little empirical evidence of the success of project D.A.R.E. (Drug Awareness Resistance Education). One hundred ninth grade students from a small, predominately white New Jersey township were randomly selected for the collection of behavioral data. The paucity of recorded drug offenses among both test and control groups most likely…

Reports on the results of a training curriculum presented to 150 school personnel from 9 states. On the basis of participants' ratings, five areas were identified as key training areas for future school-community-university substance abuse prevention initiatives. Federal and state funds may assist higher education institutes in developing…

Characteristics of adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) among traditional-age college students were investigated. Personality characteristics were examined based on birth order, gender of alcoholic parent, and honor society membership. Differences between ACOAs and non-ACOAs are discussed. (Author)

Although students in all extracurricular activities are using drugs, differences in experimentation and use among participating and nonparticipating students are more extreme when specific substances are examined. Although extracurricular participation cannot be heralded as abuse prevention, students involved in these activities are not using…

Explores the extent of the relationship between onset of sexual experiences and onset of substance use in a sample of runaway youth in Alaska. Initiation of sexual activity preceded the onset of drug-taking, and intercourse prior to age 12 was reported by 40%. Implications for those providing care for this group are explored. (JPS)

Presents findings from a study of teachers' attitudes about their drug education curriculum. Teachers regarded knowledge about drugs to be comparatively less important than other goals for the reduction of drug use, calling into question the specialized drug curriculum. Better alternatives may include strengthening traditional school programs and…

Students in grades 6 through 12 from 12 rural school districts responded to a questionnaire measuring attitudes toward and use of drugs or alcohol. Results show that attitudes became more liberal as grade level increased, that males tend to be more prone to use illicit drugs, and that ethnic differences were exhibited that did not corroborate…

This report describes a behavior analysis treatment approach to establishing oral feeding in children with multiple developmental disabilities and gastrostomy-tube dependency. Pretreatment screening, functional assessment, and treatment are reported as implemented within a behavioral consultation model. A case study illustrates the sequence and…

Literature on developmental and psychosocial outcomes of childhood leukemia is reviewed, focusing on preschool-age children. Studies are categorized in terms of outcome measures: intelligence/achievement, neuropsychological, memory/attention, and psychosocial tests. Evidence suggests that preschool children with leukemia are at high risk for…