This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of, and trends in, the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who…

This article considers a Bayesian approach for analyzing a longitudinal 2-level nonlinear structural equation model with covariates, and mixed continuous and ordered categorical variables. The first-level model is formulated for measures taken at each time point nested within individuals for investigating their characteristics that are dynamically…

Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were used to test the contributions of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, PCP, and other illicit drugs to violence in early adulthood (e.g., took part in a gang fight, pulled a knife or gun, used a weapon in a fight, used a weapon to get something). The…

This study explores the long-term impact on participation in the Linda Ray Intervention Program (LRIP) for children (n = 54) who were developmentally delayed and prenatally exposed to cocaine. By identifying a group of programme graduates from a high crime/high poverty neighbourhood in Miami-Dade County using ArcGIS 10.2 software, a…

To directly address whether regulating mRNA localization can influence animal behavior, we created transgenic mice that conditionally express Zipcode Binding Protein 1 (ZBP1) in a subset of neurons in the brain. ZBP1 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates the localization, as well as translation and stability of target mRNAs in the cytoplasm. We…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a long-term study of substance use and related factors among U.S. adolescents, college students, and adult high school graduates through age 55. It is conducted annually and supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. MTF findings identify emerging susbstance use problems, track substance use trends, and…

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: Contingency management (CM) reduces drug use, but questions remain regarding optimal targets and magnitudes of reinforcement. We evaluated the efficacy of CM reinforcing attendance in patients who initiated treatment with cocaine-negative samples, and of higher magnitude abstinence-based CM in patients who began treatment positive.…

Substance use is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality; it is in large part why, among 17 high-income nations, people in the U.S. have the highest probability of dying by age 50. Substance use is also an important contributor to many social ills including child and spouse abuse, violence more generally, theft, suicide, and more;…

The present volume presents new 2017 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 55. The authors report 2017 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examine how substance use differs across this age…

Choice procedures have indicated that the relative reinforcing effectiveness of opioid drugs increases during opioid withdrawal. The demand curve, an absolute measure of reinforcer value, has not been applied to this question. The present study assessed whether mild morphine withdrawal would increase demand for or choice of remifentanil or…

This multi-technique experiment with a forensic theme was developed for a nonscience-major chemistry course. The students are provided with solid samples and informed that the samples are either cocaine or a combination of drugs designed to mimic the stimulant and anesthetic qualities of cocaine such as caffeine and lidocaine. The students carry…

Objective: To examine the influence of conduct disorder (CD) on substance use initiation. Method: Community adolescents without CD (n = 1,165, mean baseline age = 14.6 years), with CD (n = 194, mean baseline age = 15.3 years), and youth with CD recruited from treatment (n = 268, mean baseline age = 15.7 years) were prospectively followed and…

This occasional paper presents subgroup findings from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study on levels of and trends in the use of a number of substances for nationally representative samples of high school graduates ages 19-30. The data have been gathered in a series of follow-up surveys of representative subsamples of high school seniors who were…

Objective: This study examined the relation of process variables to the outcome of group drug counseling, a commonly used community treatment, for cocaine dependence. Method: Videotaped group drug counseling sessions from 440 adult patients (23% female, 41% minority) were rated for member alliance, group cohesion, participation, self-disclosure,…