The main objective of this review is to answer the following research questions: What are the effects of outreach programmes on problem/high-risk behaviour of young people between 8 and 25 years of age living in OECD countries? Are they less likely to experience an adverse outcome such as school failure or drop-out, runaway and homelessness,…

In 2008, adolescents made 23,124 visits to the emergency department (ED) for drug-related suicide attempts, and young adults made 38,036 such visits; of these visits, 23.0 percent (5,312 visits) among adolescents and 17.6 percent (6,700 visits) among young adults involved antidepressants. Among ED visits for suicide attempts involving…

According to the American Psychiatric Association, college can be an exciting time, though for some it can be overwhelming and stressful. Depression, anxiety, substance use, and eating disorders are common mental health issues on college campuses. The 2010 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment found that 28 percent…

Young people are entering long-term recovery probably in greater numbers than ever before. A key word here is "probably" because we know precious little about the phenomenon of young people who recover from alcohol and drug addition. This article is a preliminary exploration of youth in recovery. It reviews several types of recovery support…

For many students with addicted family members, the holiday season acts more like a time machine, instantly transporting them back to a time when addicted behavior makes it seem like they have gone, "home for the helidays" rather than home to celebrate caring and sharing with members of the family. Often, students who return to an addicted family…

For the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the drinking age recently questioned by college presidents, is not a topic for debate. In August the organization publicly berated the Amethyst Initiative, a group of 100 presidents and chancellors who signed a statement urging legislators to revisit the law and to examine its effectiveness. The…

More than 1,700 students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related causes, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). These students succumb to alcohol poisoning, cardiac arrest, or injuries from falls off dorm room balconies or other heights on campus. The problem of binge drinking, defined…

Life continues to hold considerable risk for adolescents in the United States. In 2006, the teen death rate stood at 64 deaths per 100,000 teens (13,739 teens) (KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2009). Although it has declined by 4 percent since 2000, the rate of teen death in this country remains substantially higher than in many peer nations, based…

The intensive rise of deviant consciousness and behavior in the population (including consciousness and behavior conducive to crime) has been classified rightly as one of the most dangerous "social disorders" of Russian society. Especially salient is the epidemic of "deviancy in regard to the law" in the consciousness and…

The Annual Report of the North Dakota Higher Education Consortium for Substance Abuse Prevention (NDHECSAP) indicates the extent to which prevention services on North Dakota (ND) campuses assist in harm reduction and student retention. Recently a number of national studies have indicated increased attention to collegiate high-risk drinking and the…

Discursive psychology was used as a means of increasing our understanding of the way young people may talk about volume of consumption in relation to their drinking behaviour. Analysis of the audio recording and transcript of a pilot focus group discussion with four young people revealed that participants employed varying constructions of volume…

Portal surveys, defined as assessments occurring proximal to the entry point to a high-risk locale and immediately on exit, can be used in different settings to measure characteristics and behavior of attendees at an event of interest. This methodology has been developed to assess alcohol and other drug (AOD) use at specific events and has…

Describes activities of various youth councils of the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) network. The activities include developing projects in the areas of alcohol abuse education, community service, Native American heritage, and the environment. (HTH)

In 1996, after years of decline, alcohol-related crashes involving youth between 15 and 20 years old increased by nearly 5%. The estimated medical, monetary, and lost quality-of-life costs associated with injuries in crashes of young drivers are staggering. Policymakers are being called upon to address the problem of underage drinking and…

The majority of depressive symptoms, prevalent among adults (without a history of a depressive disorder) entering alcohol treatment, usually abate within 2 to 3 weeks of abstinence without specific depression-focussed intervention, but some hospitalized alcoholics experience significant depressive symptoms despite sustained abstinence. Such…