This occasional paper serves as a supplement to one of four annual monographs from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, written by the study's investigators and published by the study's sponsor, the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The full 2009 survey results are reported in "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use,…

Despite the success of many drug and alcohol prevention programs, drug and alcohol use by adolescents continues to be a problem. One important factor in preventing drug and alcohol use may be determining, in a non-intrusive manner, which students are most at risk for drug involvement. In the present study, the predictive relationship between…

This study examined correlates of early adolescent alcohol and drug use in a community sample of 217 eighth-grade adolescents with behavior problems and from Hispanic/Latino immigrant families. Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships of multiple contexts (e.g., family, school, and peers) to alcohol and drug use. Results…

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study involves an ongoing series of national surveys of American adolescents and adults that has provided the nation with a vital window into the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illegal drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use, anabolic steroid use, and psychotherapeutic drug use. For more than a third…

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is an epidemiologic surveillance system that was established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems that can occur during…

Monitoring the Future (MTF), which is now in its 36th year, is a research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study is comprised of several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally representative…

The authors test biosocial models that posit interactions between biological variables (testosterone, estradiol, pubertal status, and pubertal timing) and social context variables (family, peer, school, and neighborhood) in predicting adolescent involvement with cigarettes and alcohol in a sample of 409 adolescents in Grades 6 and 8. Models…

This study explored the association between attendance at the "Bud World Party," a family entertainment venue created by Anheuser-Busch for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and alcohol-related beliefs and current drinking behaviors for a group of 7th and 8th graders who attend a middle school in close proximity to the downtown Salt Lake City plaza where…

This study found 20.4% of children attending a middle school located in rural Mississippi had used inhalants to "get high," a figure that is much larger than the national average. Many (3.4%) students reported they had used inhalants on 10 or more occasions. Inhalant use was most associated with being younger, ever smoking, riding with a…

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…

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…

This study focuses on (a) American 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students' access to, and use of substance abuse counseling services via schools and (b) associations between such access and student substance use prevalence. From 1999 through 2003, student data were obtained from the Monitoring the Future study; and school data were obtained through…

During the year 2004, 20% of eighth-graders and 60.3% of twelfth-graders reported that they had gotten drunk at least once over the course of just one year, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Of the 10.7 million underage youth who drink, 7.2 million or 31% of all high school students binge drink with a frequency of at least…

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. …

This study examined the prevalence of high potency (liquor, malt liquor, fortified wine) and other alcoholic beverage consumption (beer, wine/wine coolers) among adolescents, the impact of gender and ethnicity, and the risk and protective factors that predicted consumption. A confidential survey revealed that, among eighth grade students,…