The Monitoring the Future study has provided the nation with a window into the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illicit drug use, alcohol use, and tobacco use. It has provided a clearer view of the changing topography of these problems among adolescents and adults, a better understanding of the dynamics of factors that drive…

In 2005, the Monitoring the Future study marked its 31st year of conducting national surveys of substance use among American young people. Beginning with the first survey of high school seniors in 1975, the study has provided the nation with a window through which to view the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illicit drug use,…

This paper explores the relationship between self-esteem, measured five times during a span of eight years, and the educational and occupational attainments of a nationwide sample of over 1600 young men. An overall increase in self-esteem was observed between the start of 10th grade (1966) and a point five years after high school (1974).…

The belief that schools can play a powerful role in preventing tobacco use among adolescents has led to the implementation of various tobacco-related polices and practices. This study examines the association between school policies regarding monitoring student behavior, severity of action taken for infraction of policies, and tobacco use by…

Substance use by American young people has proven to be a rapidly-changing phenomenon, requiring frequent assessments and reassessments. Since the mid-1960s it has remained a major concern for the nation. Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence as well as later in life. How…

This is the second volume in a two-volume set, presenting findings from the Monitoring the Future study. The first volume presents findings from American secondary students in grades 8, 10, and 12. This second volume contains findings from American college students, their age peers not in college, young adult high school graduates through age 30…

Substance use by American young people remains a major concern for the nation. Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence and across the life course. How vigorously the nation responds to teenage substance use, how accurately it identifies the substance abuse problems that are…

Using a cohort-sequential design, identifies period, age, and class effects influencing the use of 12 different classes of drugs, both licit and illicit, by American youth aged 18 to 28 who were surveyed annually between 1976 and 1986. (Author/BJV)

The Youth in Transition project, a longitudinal study (which began in 1966) of a national sample of young men is described in this report. (Major objectives of the project were (1) to explore Lhe effects of dropping out of high school, (2) to assess the degree to which educational and occupational attainments are predictable from tenth grade…

In 2004 the Monitoring the Future study marked its 30th year of conducting national surveys of substance use among American young people. Beginning with the first survey of high school seniors in 1975, the study has provided the nation with a window through which to view the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illicit drug use,…

This volume--the second in a two-volume set from the Monitoring the Future study--provides findings on the substance use and related behaviors of several segments of the adult population. It also contains findings on attitudes and beliefs about drugs, as well as on several particularly salient dimensions of their social environments. Volume I…

Due to certain inconsistencies between students' reports of monthly versus yearly drug use, further analyses of self-reported drug use by high school senior classes of 1976-1979 were conducted. Previous reports of drug use frequency during the past month were roughly three times larger than estimates based on usage reports during the past year, a…

The use of licit and illicit drugs by American young people has been a source of major policy and public health concerns for the United States since the mid-1960s. The use of these substances is a leading cause of eventual disease and death in the population, but it also contributes in important ways to mortality and morbidity during adolescence. …

To better understand the risk for U.S. youth substance abuse, the results of all the follow-up surveys of the graduating high school classes of 1976 through 1994--taken from the Monitoring the Future study of young adults, ages 19-32 years old--is presented here. The report serves a social monitoring function, in which levels and trends in certain…

Despite considerable recent public and judicial attention to the issue of drug testing, little empirical research has focused on the relationship between drug testing in schools and the actual use of illicit drugs by students. To explore this issue, we use school-level survey data about drug testing from the Youth, Education, and Society study and…