Surveyed 4,202 university students in Florida. Found that 14 percent had started drinking in elementary school, 34 percent in middle school, 45 percent in high school, and 7 percent in college. Time of onset significantly predicted quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption and incidence of alcohol-related problems reported by students in…

Three-day life skills re-education program, embedded in 10-week new employee basic training had no long-term effects on alcohol and drug knowledge and attitudes. Findings suggest that primary prevention program targeting adults may be too late to affect alcohol and drug habits, life skills approach may work best in secondary prevention efforts,…

Heavy-drinking college students tend to overestimate the prevalence of heavy drinking among their peers. Twenty-six heavy-drinking students participated in a survey study of drinking. They were randomized to receive or not receive, by return mail, personal feedback of their drinking compared to population norms. Feedback subjects showed greater…

Examined frequency and prevalence of drug and alcohol use among 850 university employees. Explored alcohol and drug use within past year and month among university faculty, administrators, clerical staff, and physical plant/custodial staff. Found stress weakly correlated with some drug use in past month; depression consistently correlated with…

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 examines the risk for alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems resulting from alcohol plus marijuana use compared to alcohol-only use. Data are from telephone interviews with 1113 randomly selected college students attending two large urban universities in the southwestern United States. Alcohol and marijuana users (dual users) were more…

Examined relationships among drinking norms, peer alcohol use, alcohol availability, drinking location, alcohol consumption, and drinking-related problems among young adult drinkers (N=3,095). Results show that drinking norms and peer alcohol use influenced alcohol consumption and drinking consequences. Drinking in public contributed to alcohol…

Investigates the extent to which at-risk adolescents express different values than their parents and adolescents and parents in a control group. The beliefs of parents of at-risk adolescents were not significantly different from those of the control group; however, the at-risk students' beliefs were different from all groups. The age difference…

Explored whether drinking among high school students (n=499) was related more to factors "unchangeable" versus "changeable" by school-based intervention. Found that drinking varied with different types of "unchangeable" and "changeable" factors for male and female students. Levels of drinking among males…

Explored relationship between drug and alcohol abuse and eating disorders in female adolescents (n=826). Eating Disorders Risk Scale was adopted and correlated with drug and alcohol use, other forms of deviance, family and peer relationships, and depression. Findings support concept of generalized theory of addictions based on psychosocial,…

Examined hypothesis that use of psychoactive substances is strongly associated with social deviance. Investigated patterns of alcohol and drug use among 97 juvenile delinquents, 184 detached youth, and 8,151 high school students in Israel. Results clearly indicated that psychoactive substance use was concentrated among Israeli groups of deviant…

Investigates familial alcoholism effects and the comparative probability of risk that adult children of alcoholics have for alcohol dependence. Results, based on a national survey of 12,686 young adults over a five-year period, show that the risk for alcoholism is relatively greater for males than females. (MKA)

The problems associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) extract a significant health, social, and economic toll on American society. While the field of substance abuse prevention has made great strides during the past decade, two major challenges remain. First, the field has been disorganized and fragmented with respect to…

Survey of 208 Certified Addiction Counselors (CAC) and Certified Prevention Specialists (CPS) about education and training topics in the field of alcohol and other drug abuse. Results indicate that CAC/CPS professionals prefer training topics that encompass cultural issues, alternative forms of treatment and relapse prevention delivered in…

Looks at adolescent alcohol use and the strategy of responsible decision making (RDM) in regard to alcohol. States that RDM was erroneously discontinued in the mid-1989s, and that young people are still grappling with alcohol-related problems. Argues that RDM provides information, motivates discussion of adolescent activities, and promotes…