This study examines the feasibility of recruiting and retaining adolescents and young adults with frequent cannabis use for a 2-week momentary sampling study of cannabis use. Participants responded to random signals on a handheld computer with reports of their use. Participants also initiated reports pre- and post-cannabis use. Participants had…

Substance use and sexual risk behaviors are common among adolescents, but research has focused attention on alcohol use. Much less is known about the relationship of marijuana use and sexual risk behavior among high-risk, especially truant, youths. We report interim findings from a NIDA-funded experimental, brief intervention (BI) study involving…

This study utilized data drawn from a study of 980 adolescents living in Tijuana, Mexico, in February 2009 to examine whether parental monitoring had a moderating impact on the influence of peer pro-drug norms on lifetime and past-30-day alcohol and cigarette use among a group of adolescents living along the United States-Mexico border. The…

Six specific hypotheses have been developed to account for why Caucasians have higher rates of drug use compared to African-Americans. This article utilizes data from a South Florida-based community study of 893 young adults (1998-2002) to test these hypotheses. Specifically, Caucasians (1) initiate drug use at younger ages than African-Americans…

Purpose: Prevalence estimates for drug use health risk behaviors among high school students are widely available, but relatively few studies describe how and to what extent these risk behaviors occur together. Furthermore, little research has examined whether the co-occurrence of health risk behaviors varies by key demographic characteristics such…

This study examined illicit substance use among 1,004 adolescents, ages 11-21, involved with the Child Welfare System (CWS) and followed from 1999 to 2007. By the time they reached transition age, more than 60% of the sample had used an illicit substance in their lifetime. Predictors of regular use during adolescence were having a prior CWS…

A range of research has recognized the benefits of optimism in a variety of health-related outcomes. Pessimism has received less attention but may be a distinct concept that is uniquely related to certain health behaviors, including drug use. The present study examined relationships between optimism and pessimism and alcohol use trajectories of…

Students in a junior high school serving a large Old Order Amish settlement completed a survey of attitudes, opinions, and intentions regarding substance use. A total of 1,031 students participated across a four-year span, approximately equally divided between Amish and non-Amish youths. Amish youths maintain attitudes that suggest perceived…

This study examined posttreatment patterns of polysubstance use and heroin relapse in a sample of 43 adolescents (ages 14-20) entering short-term residential treatment for primary heroin use. At 12-month follow-up, youths that achieved heroin abstinence (N = 19) were significantly less likely than youths that relapsed to heroin (N = 24) to endorse…

Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence as well as later in life. The determination of how well national and local policy and intervention efforts address teen substance use depends largely on the collection of valid and accurate data. Assessments of substance use rely heavily…

A total of 4,746 Hong Kong students, aged 14-15, participated in the 2000-2001 Health Related Behavior Survey. Results produced by the logistic regression models revealed that non-private housing was significantly associated with ever-use of ecstasy in boys. Moreover, girls in non-private housing were significantly more likely to have been…

This article reports on a review of selected New York State school prevention program student case records. Methods: Data were extracted from Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) standardized Prevention Activity Summary forms. A total of 407 records from 12 high schools throughout New York State were reviewed. Results: The age…

Because of ongoing neuromaturation, youth with chronic alcohol/substance use disorders (AUD/SUD) are at risk for cognitive decrements during young adulthood. We prospectively examined cognition over 10 years based on AUD/SUD history. Youth (N = 51) with no AUD/SUD history (n = 14), persisting AUD/SUD (n = 18), or remitted AUD/SUD (n = 19) were…

This study examined teen marijuana report stability over 8 years. The stability of self-reports refers to the consistency of self-reported use across several years. This study used fives waves of data across 8 years from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Analyses were conducted to examine the internal or within-wave consistency as well as…

Students who engage in high-risk behaviors, including early initiation of sexual intercourse, alcohol use, marijuana use, tobacco use, and externalizing behavior are vulnerable to a broad range of adverse outcomes as adults. Latent class analysis was used to determine whether varying patterns of risk behavior existed for 212 urban African-American…