Background: Transgender adolescents face tremendous social stress in families and schools, which often leads to behavioral health disparities. This study assessed whether rates of substance use were higher among transgender adolescents when compared to nontransgender adolescents. Methods: This study is a secondary data analysis of the 2013-2015…

The study purpose is to examine the impact of early substance use on lifetime and past year contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, and syphilis. A secondary analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 52,529) was conducted to determine if lifetime or past year STD…

Objective: To investigate the direct effects of prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) on adolescent drug use, while controlling for other predictors of adolescent use. Method: Data are from a longitudinal study of PCE in which women and their offspring were assessed throughout childhood. Adolescents were interviewed at 15 years about their age at…

The majority of youth with substance use disorders (SUDs) manifest one or more co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Consequently, many of these youths are being prescribed with psychotropic medications. As prescribing rates continue to increase for early-onset psychiatric disorders, potential risk for substance of abuse-psychiatric medication…

Preventing and treating inhalant use problems, as well as raising awareness about the dangers of inhalant use, are important ongoing goals of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Monitoring trends in inhalant use is vital to assessing policies intended to reduce inhalant use. This issue of "The NSDUH Report"…

There are limited prospective data on suicide attempts (SA) during the months following treatment for substance use disorders (SUD), a period of high risk. In an analysis of the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Study, a longitudinal naturalistic multisite study of treated SUDs, variables associated with SA in the 12 months following SUD treatment…

Very little is known about the accessibility and potential barriers to addiction treatment among street youths and young adults. We sought to examine the prevalence and correlates of enrollment in addiction treatment among a cohort of street-involved youths and young adults in Vancouver, Canada. Street-involved youths and young adults who use…

The purpose of this study was to explore recreational prescription drug use among undergraduate students. Although anecdotal accounts on this subject abound, empirical research is extremely limited. Data from a survey of a random sample of 734 students at a large public research university in the Northeast were examined. Results indicate that a…

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…

Context: Understanding childhood risk factors associated with adult substance use and legal problems is important for treatment and prevention. Purpose: To examine the relationship of early substance use, conduct problems before age 15, and family history of substance abuse on adult outcomes in rural, stimulant users. Methods: Adult cocaine and…

The purpose of this grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) study was to explore the experiences of racially and culturally diverse young mothers whose own mothers abused substances two decades ago when substance abuse peaked in inner city, urban neighborhoods in the United States and to identify the factors that have influenced how they parent…

Since the mid-1960s, when illicit drug use burgeoned in the normal youth population, substance use by American young people has proven to be a rapidly changing phenomenon. Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence as well as later in life. How vigorously the nation responds to…

Ecstasy (MDMA) has been added to the spectrum of illicit drugs used by college students. In this study, the authors estimated the prevalence of ecstasy use within a large college student sample and investigated the polydrug-use history of those ecstasy users. They administered an anonymous questionnaire to college students (N = 1,206) in…

Since the mid-1960s, when illicit drug use burgeoned in the normal youth population, substance use by American young people has proven to be a rapidly changing phenomenon. Smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use are leading causes of morbidity and mortality, both during adolescence as well as later in life. How vigorously the nation responds to…

Using a street sample (N=553), studied gender differences associated with depression and multiple drug use (alcohol, marijuana, cocaine) among African-Americans in a high-risk community. Two-way factorial analysis of variance and follow-up tests yielded higher depression scores for women than for men among all levels of drug use, especially when…