College drinking and its adverse consequences on students' health and safety are important public health concerns in the USA. Thus far, there is little attention on exploring and addressing the cultural dimensions of college drinking. This study examines the construction of meaning of drinking among students to understand their perspectives of the…

Most of the colleges and universities that have received U.S. Department of Education Models of Exemplary, Effective, and Promising Alcohol or Other Drug Abuse Prevention Programs on College Campuses grants credit strong presidential leadership for the success of their prevention efforts. With many colleges and universities currently facing budget…

Objectives: Stuttering has been associated with a range of anxiety disorders, including social phobia. In the general community, anxiety disorders are frequently associated with increased rates of mood and substance use disorders. Therefore, in the present study, the authors sought to determine the rate of mood and substance use disorders among…

This study examines whether the Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system influences targeted risk and protective factors and the subsequent development of problem behaviour among adolescents (12-18 years) in the Netherlands. In this quasi-experimental study of ten communities (five experimental, five control), adolescent outcomes were…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems…

This paper analyzes the effect of state-level Sunday alcohol sales restrictions ("blue laws") on fatal vehicle accidents, which is an important parameter in assessing the desirability of these laws. Using a panel data set of all fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. between 1990 and 2009 combined with 15 state repeals of blue laws, we show that…

Aims: To investigate whether "binge-drinking" is new by comparing the behaviour and attitudes of two generations at the same age and of one generation at different ages. Methods: Fifty-six student/parent pairs completed questionnaires partially based on the Adolescent version of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (Brown, S.A.,…

High-risk alcohol consumption is a significant problem on college campuses that many students see as a rite of passage in their development into adulthood. Developing effective prevention campaigns designed to lessen or avert the risks associated with alcohol consumption entails understanding how students perceive harmful consequences as well as…

The recent Amethyst Initiative argues that a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 has created a culture of heavy alcohol use on college campuses by making drinking clandestine and extreme. This group and others argue that lowering the MLDA will reduce the problem of "binge drinking" on college campuses. However, such a policy change would…

Research now suggests that the human brain is still maturing during adolescence. The developing brain may help explain why adolescents sometimes make decisions that are risky and can lead to safety or health concerns, including unique vulnerabilities to drug abuse. This article explores how this new science may be put to use in our prevention and…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether pregaming (ie, drinking prior to a social event) is a risk factor for hospitalization. Participants: Participants (N = 516) were undergraduate students with an alcohol-related sanction. Methods: Participants completed a survey about alcohol use, as well as behaviors and experiences,…

The development of effective policies and programs to prevent sexual coercion among young people requires thorough understanding of the diversity of coercive sexual experiences, patterns in such types of experiences, and similarities and differences between subgroups, especially by gender, in patterns of coercive sexual experiences and…

This longitudinal study examined the temporal-ordered causal relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV), five mental disorders (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, panic attack, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), alcohol abuse/dependence, drug abuse/ dependence, treatment seeking (from physician, counselor, and…

Objective: Many students pregame (ie, drink before drinking), but there are scant data evaluating changes following college entry. The authors examined pregaming across the fall quarter and identified predictors of change and initiation in college. Participants: Freshmen ("N" = 708; 53% female, 100% drinkers) were recruited during…

Although children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at risk for impulsive, health-endangering behavior, few studies have examined nonsubstance, use-related risk-taking behaviors. This study examined whether adolescents and young adults with ADHD histories were more likely than those without ADHD histories to report frequent…