New analytical tools have facilitated the exploration of the trajectories of alcohol use; however, there are a limited number of studies that explore early adolescence. A sample of 5,903 youths followed from sixth through eighth grade was used to (1) examine the trajectories of alcohol use and (2) determine the degree to which common correlates…

The present study examines collectivist influences in preventing smoking among Hispanic youths. Using a pretest/posttest design, sixth-graders received a collectivist or standard curriculum. Both curricula contained knowledge-based facts about smoking. The collectivist condition included an interdependent perspective. Compared to the standard…

Four million individuals under the age of 21 admit to consuming alcohol in any given month. This is a significant statistic considering alcohol is responsible for most health problems related to drugs among adolescents. Research has shown that the high influence of alcohol advertising may encourage adolescents to emulate the behaviors seen in…

Although research has identified numerous neighborhood mechanisms influencing urban adolescent risk behaviors, less is known about how community contexts influence rural adolescents. This study explores perceived controls against adolescent drinking (i.e., tolerance of community adolescent alcohol use), adolescent perceptions of community…

Using a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, The Missouri Institute of Mental Health produced a series of media tools designed to teach fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children from African-American churches about the science of drug addiction. Beginning with a core curriculum, we created two separate interventions. In the…

This study examined the longitudinal effects of five family factors (familism, parent derogation, parent-child communication, family alcohol problems, and family drug problems) on intensity of alcohol use among a sample of 451 African American and White non-Hispanic males from early to mid-adolescence (sixth through eighth grades). Results…

Responses from 420 parents of fifth- and sixth-grade DARE students in a Midwestern county were examined to determine the parents' perceptions of the impact of DARE on their children's and their own attitudes and behavior. Major findings indicated that most parents did not see an impact on their child's school performance or overall attendance.…

To examine cumulative impact of anti-smoking messages, 300+ sixth, seventh, and eighth graders at three southern, private schools completed the Youth Tobacco Survey during both fall and spring, 2001-2002. One school had tobacco lessons plus health-promotion teams, the other tobacco lessons, and the third classes as usual. In attitudes and…

The development and psychometric properties of a brief screening tool for use with American Indian youth suspected of abusing substances is described. The Indian Health Service-Personal Experience Screening Questionnaire (IHS-PESQ) is a brief questionnaire that screens for drug abuse problem severity, response distortion tendencies, and…