The purpose of this study was to examine individual, family, peer, and community risk and protective factors associated with past-30-days alcohol and marijuana use among African-American adolescents living in rural and urban communities. This study used data collected from 907 tenth- and twelfth-grade African-American students who completed 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…

Tested relevance of risk-factor model for predicting drug use among rural seventh graders (n=235). Nineteen of 20 risk factors were significantly related to at least 1 category of drug use. Subset of 10 risk factors was significantly associated with prevalence and frequency of use of cigarettes, beer and wine, hard liquor, marijuana, and other…

Reviews a systems theory approach to the development of community-based suicide prevention programs. Describes the Lifelines model of youth suicide prevention, and discusses the feasibility of implementing this model in rural and isolated areas. Contains 19 references and an outline of procedures for crisis intervention and aftercare. (SV)

Problem: Various demographic and familial risk factors have been linked to runaway behavior. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the impact of size of community on runaway behavior. This study will compare runaways from smaller cities and rural areas to their urban counterparts. Methods: A convenience sample of 602…

This report is part one of three volumes to be published by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in response to the request of members of Congress to review the physical, emotional, and behavioral health status of contemporary U.S. adolescents, including adolescents in groups who might be more likely to be in special need of health-related…

A study examines the long-term effects of a family process program on social and cognitive competence and aggressive and deviant behavior among rural African American adolescents. Results suggest that family processes influence the status and changes in adolescent competence and behavior, while analysis of covariant structures suggest that…

Risk factors associated with teenage pregnancy were studied among 95 Hispanic, Native American, and White ninth-grade females at a rural New Mexico high school. All respondents, regardless of ethnicity, reported moderate levels of health-compromising behaviors such as alcohol use, poor communication with parents regarding sex, and a false sense of…

Survival Skills for Youth (SSY) is a life skills management program developed for out-of-school youth who have a history of failure in academic or employment settings, or who are considered at-risk for failure in the adult world of work. The skills taught are grouped into 10 areas, one skill category per workshop. The workshops include up to 15…

This paper examines the links between various personal and social risk factors and drug use among youth living in rural communities. Data were collected through self-report surveys administered to 1,656 7th- and 8th-grade students and 1,205 11th- and 12th-grade students in 9 rural communities with populations ranging from 451 to 18,400. Surveys…