Objective: Research has just begun to identify American college students who study abroad as a group at-risk for sexual violence victimization. The purpose of the current study was to examine the context of these incidents. Participants: We utilized a large longitudinal sample of 2,428 United States college students studying abroad for between 4…

Autistic individuals may be at risk of premature mortality, and physical health comorbidity increases this risk; however, most studies fail to include older autistic adults or consider lifestyle-related factors that affect health. We developed an anonymous, online physical health survey. The final sample included n = 2368 individuals (mean age =…

Analysis of the data from 20 administrations of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health reveal an overall lower trend in the rate of binge drinking for the period from 1979-2006. This period encompasses the transition to a uniform legal drinking age of 21 in the U.S. Little improvement is seen in binge drinking among college students while…

Heavy drinking and associated negative consequences remain a serious problem among college students. In a secondary analysis of data from two published study, the authors examine the correlation between minimum legal age to purchase and/or consume alcohol and rates of heavy drinking among college students in 22 countries. The published studies use…

Adolescence is an important period of physical, social, psychological, and cognitive growth. No longer children and not yet adults, adolescents make significant choices about their health and develop attitudes and health behaviors that continue into adulthood. Substance use disorders among adolescents can impede the attainment of important…

Objective: This comparative study evaluated the readability and test-retest reliability of a questionnaire designed to assess the attitudes, beliefs behaviours and sources of information about HIV/AIDS among young adults recruited from universities in the United States of America (USA), Turkey and South Africa. Design/Setting: The instrument was…

Objective: This article updates our 1997 review that examined the literature on HIV risk behavior among college students. Methods: The current review focuses on college student sex-risk behaviors related to HIV-related knowledge, communication with sex partners, self efficacy, and behavioral skills. Results: As reported in our original review, the…

Purpose: Addressing substance abuse in rural America requires extending our understanding beyond urban-rural comparisons to how substance abuse varies across rural communities of different sizes. We address this gap by examining substance abuse prevalence across 4 geographic levels, focusing on youth (age 12-17 years) and young adults (age 18-25…

Objectives: Prenatal exposure to alcohol interferes with fetal development and is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities. The purpose of this study was to identify current knowledge, diagnosis, prevention, and intervention practices related to fetal alcohol syndrome and related conditions by members of the…

Laws such as 0.08 blood alcohol content, open container, and license revocation provide a policy framework for reducing drinking and driving. Drinking and driving behavior is difficult to assess; unlike property and violent crimes, where incidence statistics can approximate behavior, most drink-driving trips go undetected. The authors develop a…

People in the United States, though only five percent of the world's population, consume two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. People in the United States, though only five percent of the world's population, incarcerate 25 percent of the world's prisoners. It is no coincidence that of the 2.3 million inmates in U.S. prisons, 65 percent--1.5…

This study examined the association of victimization in a physically violent dating relationship with risk behaviors, age of risk behavior initiation, and co-occurrence of risk behaviors among students in grades 9 through 12 in the United States. Data were from the 2003 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Nearly 9% of students reported…

The Surgeon General, the Nation's top public health officer, is appointed by the President of the United States to help protect and promote the health of the Nation. The recently published "Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking" [ED496083] highlights underage alcohol use as a major public health and…

The high rates of substance use among American adolescents are challenging; however, runaway youth are at particularly high-risk for substance use. Runaway youth utilizing two service sectors, emergency crisis shelters and juvenile detention centers, were recruited to evaluate differences in risk factors associated with substance use. Findings…

Drinking and driving is perhaps the most serious problem associated with heavy drinking among college students in the United States. In this study, the authors examined drinking locations prior to impaired driving in a college student sample. They administered the Impaired Driving Assessment to 91 college students identified as high risk for…