Underage drinking continues to be a public health concern, partially due to the ease in which adolescents obtain alcohol and consume it in private locations. States and municipalities have implemented strategies to counter-act this, including adopting public policies called social host policies, despite limited evidence of effectiveness.…

This study describes Australian year eight students' (13-14 years old) experiences with alcohol in terms of communication with parents, initiation into drinking, patterns of consumption, context of use, and harms experienced. The sample comprised 521 year eight students from four state government secondary schools in the state of Victoria. Three…

The purpose of this study was to determine cigarette brand preference trends and differences in Marlboro smokers in smoking-related attitudes and behaviors from smokers of other brands. This study analyzed data from 25,027 adolescents represented in the 2000, 2003, and 2007 Philippine Global Youth Tobacco Surveys. Results indicated that from 2000…

Despite a 50-year interdisciplinary and longitudinal research legacy--showing that nearly 80% of young people considered most "at risk" thrive by midlife--only recently have practitioners/researchers engaged in the explicit, prospective facilitation of "resilience" in educational settings. Here, theory/knowledge distinguishing and extending risk…

A total of 7488 7th-12th grade African-American students completed a survey assessing factors associated with recent alcohol use. Results indicated that 13.6% used alcohol in the past month. A series of odds ratios revealed that making good grades, participating in school activities, attending church, and having parents/teachers talk about the…

This retrospective case study assessed the influence of item non-response error on subsequent response to questionnaire items assessing adolescent alcohol and marijuana use. Post-hoc analyses were conducted on survey results obtained from 4,371 7th to 12th grade students in Ohio in 2005. A skip pattern design in a conventional questionnaire…

This study examined the role of religiosity among adolescents' and adults' alcohol use in Trinidad. A stratified random sample design of 369 adolescents and 210 adult parents belonging to the various religious groups in Trinidad was employed. Participants were randomly selected from various educational districts across Trinidad. Adolescent…

In this article we examine the importance of sensation seeking and pragmatism in the steroids and sports supplements behavior and attitudes of high school and junior high school students on Long Island, New York. Steroid use is much less acceptable than sports supplement use, although the reasons for use are similar. Respondents use supplements…

Research has shown significant declines in gateway drug use among participants in a school/community substance abuse prevention intervention in a midwestern, suburban school district (Lohrmann, Alter, Greene, & Younoszai, 2005). Though still at or below national levels, student marijuana use was not impacted as positively. The current study…

The literature suggests that administering drug surveys to public school students is best done by persons outside of the school system (or at least unfamiliar to the students). This is the approach used by the long-time "Monitoring the Future" project. Because of the increased costs that administration by outside research associates requires (both…

This study examined long-term effects of a school/family/community substance abuse prevention partnership intervention lead by a Midwestern school district. Previous findings suggested that the program contributed to decreased tobacco and marijuana, but not alcohol, use prior to and after implementation between 1987 and 1991. The current study…

Drug abuse, or substance abuse, is a substantial public health problem in the United States, particularly among high school students. The purpose of this article was to review school-based programs implemented in high schools for substance abuse prevention and to suggest recommendations for future interventions. Included were English language…

The Reinforcing Alcohol Prevention (RAP) Program is an alcohol prevention curriculum developed in partnership with secondary schools to serve their need for a brief, evidence-based, and straightforward program that aligned with state learning objectives. Program components included an educational lesson, video, and interactive activities delivered…

Survey responses by nonexperimental drug users in grades 6-12 were examined to determine whether MA users and nonusers with shared individual characteristics experience differential rates of police trouble, and whether specific factors place some users at greater risk than others. Findings showed that police trouble is pronounced for MA users,…

Illegal drug use and abuse by the nation's secondary school students is a continuing public health issue and this is especially true for students living in rural, low-income areas where access to intervention and treatment services is often limited. To address this issue, some school districts have implemented voluntary, randomized, student …