Substance Use and Health and Safety among Homeless Youth

This study examines how substance use is associated with the health and safety of homeless youth using cross-sectional, self-report data from 285 homeless adolescents. Path models were used to examine concurrent relationships between youth’s substance use and multiple aspects of their health and safety, including measures of psychological distress, housing risk and instability, and medical problems. Substance use was examined with both global (i.e., a composite of days of use across various drugs and alcohol) and specific (i.e., rates of use of specific drugs, injection drug use) measures. After controlling for demographic and historical variables, number of days of use was significantly related to psychological distress, whereas injection drug use was significantly related to housing risk. Examination of specific drugs revealed relationships between psychological distress and the use of alcohol, cocaine, and amphetamines, and a specific relationship between housing risk and the use of heroin. None of the measures of substance use was significantly related to youth’s medical problems. Implications for interventions with homeless adolescents are discussed.     

Risk and protective factors in adolescents' drug use, and differences by age and sex

Adolescents' drug use has huge social and personal implications, so it is essential to identify risk and protective factors. In this research, the CTCYS was used with 2440 adolescents to detect risk and protective factors for drug use in the community, family, school and peers/individual; differences in risk and protective factors by age and sex; and relationships between risk and protective factors and substance use. Protective factors are high. Risk factors are high in the community, the school and the individual. Older adolescents have more risks and less protection than the youngest; and there are sex differences, because males have less protection and more risks. The risk factors more closely related to drug use are availability of drugs in the community, family attitudes favourable to drug use, family history of antisocial behaviour, early start and use of drugs by friends, perceived risk and attitudes favourable to drug use. In the protective factors, the role played by social skills for alcohol use is important.     

Religiosity and adolescent marijuana use

Among adolescents, religiosity has been associated with lower rates of marijuana use, though few studies have examined its impact on the perceived risk of use. There is strong support that perceived risk of using marijuana is negatively correlated with the frequency of use. We examined the relationship among religiosity, perceived risk, and marijuana use from a national survey of adolescents that contained questions about lifetime, weekly, and past month substance use, social support, religious involvement and attitudes, and perceived riskiness of use. We tested a structural equation model of relationships among latent variables of religiosity and perceived risk, and an observed variable of total days of marijuana use in the past 12 months. Results indicated the model was a good fit to the data and described a mediating relationship of perceived risk of use between religiosity and marijuana use. Implications for leveraging religiosity in prevention of substance use are discussed.     

School Substance Use Norms and Racial Composition Moderate Parental and Peer Influences on Adolescent Substance Use

Parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use have been well demonstrated. However, limited research has examined how parental and peer influences vary across school contexts. This study used a multilevel approach to examine the effects of school substance use norms and school racial composition in predicting adolescent substance use (a composite measure of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use) and in moderating parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use. A total of 14,346 adolescents from 34 schools in a mid‐western county completed surveys electronically at school. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that school‐level disapproval against substance use and percentage of minority students at school were negatively associated with adolescent substance use. School‐level disapproval moderated the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use, with the association being stronger when school‐level disapproval was lower. School racial composition moderated the influence of parental disapproval and peer substance use on adolescent substance use. Specifically, both the association between parental disapproval and adolescent substance use and the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use were weaker for adolescents who attended schools with higher percentages of minority students. Findings highlighted the importance of considering the role of school contexts, in conjunction with parental and peer influences, in understanding adolescent substance use.     

Comparison of problematic internet and alcohol use and attachment styles among industrial workers in Korea

The objective of this article is to fully understand Internet addiction, we aimed to compare the attachment styles and psychopathologies associated with problematic Internet use with those related to alcohol use. Through the participation of 141 male participants, the present study assessed problematic Internet and alcohol use, attachment, psychopathology, and demographic data via the use of self-rating questionnaires. We explored the significant predictors among avoidant and anxious attachments, depression, anxiety, and phobia to explain problematic Internet and alcohol use. The results showed that anxious attachment, depression, and anxiety could explain problematic alcohol use. In contrast, both anxious and avoidant attachment as well as depression and phobia explained problematic Internet use. Additionally, depression moderated the effects of avoidant attachment on problematic Internet use. We demonstrated that the interaction of attachment and psychopathology predicts problematic Internet use originating from an earlier stage of life than that associated with problematic alcohol use.     

Statistical Effects of Religious Participation and Marriage on Substance Use and Abuse in Racial and Ethnic Minorities

Substance use and abuse, which includes alcohol use, alcohol dependence, drug use, and drug dependence, inflicts a substantial toll on Americans. Although studies have demonstrated the protective effect of social support, such as religious participation and via marriage, understanding their influence on racial and ethnic minorities is limited. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess the impact of social support on substance use and abuse in racial and ethnic minorities. The Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, a repository of race, ethnicity, and mental health data, was leveraged to develop four models using multivariate analysis, specifically logistic regression to estimate the probability of meeting the criteria for substance use and abuse. Racial and ethnic minorities were found to have lower rates of substance use and abuse compared to Whites, and foreign-born individuals were consistently less likely to use or abuse substances compared to American-born minorities. Mental health conditions were highly associated with substance use and abuse, and social support by way of religious participation and marriage was protective against substance use and abuse. In racial and ethnic minorities, nativity and social support were protective against substance use and abuse; however, these protective factors did not completely eliminate risk. Thus, although race and ethnicity are important to understanding health outcomes and health behaviors, such as substance use and abuse, it is the intersection of multiple factors, representing internal and external forces, which may be more informative and offer a more comprehensive picture of the landscape influencing drug and alcohol use and dependence. Targeted interventions should consider leveraging religious spaces and bilingual materials when attempting to reach racial and ethnic minorities.     

Gender and the Internet: Women Communicating and Men Searching

This research examined gender differences in Internet use and factors responsible for these differences. A sample of 630 Anglo American undergraduates completed the Student Computer and Internet Survey that contained questions about e-mail and Web use, and about potential affective and cognitive mediators of use. Based on a general model of Internet use, we predicted and found that females used e-mail more than did males, males used the Web more than did females, and females reported more computer anxiety, less computer self-efficacy, and less favorable and less stereotypic computer attitudes. Path analysis to identify mediators of gender differences in Internet use revealed that computer self-efficacy, loneliness, and depression accounted in part for gender differences, but that gender continued to have a direct effect on use after these factors were considered. Implications for realizing the democratizing potential and benefits of Internet use are discussed.     

感觉寻求、同伴压力对高中生烟酒使用的影响

对来自山东日照市两所普通高中1~3年级的689名学生进行问卷调查,考察感觉寻求、同伴压力（包括烟酒使用同伴压力与其他同伴压力）对高中生烟酒使用的影响,以及同伴压力的调节作用。结果表明：（1）感觉寻求、烟酒使用同伴压力对高中生烟酒使用有正向预测作用,其他同伴压力也能显著预测其饮酒行为。（2）烟酒共用同伴压力调节感觉寻求和高中生烟酒共用间的关系,只有在高烟酒共用同伴压力下感觉寻求才会显著预测烟酒共用;饮酒同伴压力也调节感觉寻求和高中生饮酒间的关系,只有在高饮酒同伴压力下高感觉寻求者才会有较多饮酒行为;其他同伴压力无此调节作用。（3）吸烟同伴压力不能调节感觉寻求和高中生吸烟间的关系。     

Use of diet pills and amphetamines to lose weight among smoking and nonsmoking high school seniors

Used data on 3,305 high school seniors collected as part of the 1984 Monitoring the Future project to examine the relationships among cigarette use, diet pill use, and use of amphetamines for weight loss. Results indicate that females were more likely than males to report use of all three substances. In addition, Whites were more likely than Blacks to use all three substances. Both female and male smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to use diet pills. Amphetamine use for weight loss was positively related to smoking among females, but not among males. The relationships between smoking and diet pill use, and smoking and amphetamine use to lose weight, were maintained when race, sex, and other drug use were controlled simultaneously. Two explanations for these relationships are considered. The first is that smoking is related to the use of most other licit and illicit drugs. The second explanation is that there is a greater preoccupation with weight among smokers, with weight concerns potentially motivating the initiation of smoking.     

Cannabis and Amphetamine Use and Socio-Ecological Proximal and Distal Factors Among School-Going Adolescents in Six Pacific Island Countries

The study aimed to assess the prevalence of cannabis and amphetamine use and socio-ecological proximal and distal factors among adolescents in six Pacific Island countries. We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from 9,849 adolescents (mean age 14.2 years, SD?=?1.2) from Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu that participated in the “Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS)” in 2011–2013. The prevalence of past-month cannabis use was 15.5%, and lifetime amphetamine use was 14.5%, with the highest prevalence in Samoa, 37.1% and 34.6%, respectively. In adjusted mixed-effects logistic regression analysis male gender, personal attributes (anxiety, loneliness, current tobacco use, current alcohol use and school truancy) and environmental stressors (having been in a physical fight, been physically attacked, sustained an injury, hunger and being bullied) were associated with past-month cannabis and/or lifetime amphetamine use. Parental substance use was positively and parental involvement negatively associated with past-month cannabis and/or lifetime amphetamine use. Measures to prevent and control cannabis and amphetamine use in this adolescent population should include personal attributes, environmental stressors and parental support.     

大学生网络使用与网络利他行为:网络使用自我效能和性别的作用

以湖北省武汉市两所大学的562名大学生为被试,采用网络利他行为问卷、网络自我效能感问卷和网络使用行为问卷对其进行问卷调查。考察网络使用自我效能在网络使用和网络利他行为之间的中介作用及该中介作用是否受到性别的调节。结果发现:(1)男生在网络利他行为和网络使用自我效能上均显著高于女生;男生在网络游戏、网络信息的使用上显著高于女生,男女生在网络社交上不存在显著差异;(2)网络使用(网络社交、网络信息、网络游戏)与网络使用自我效能、网络利他行为均呈显著正相关,网络使用自我效能与网络利他行为呈显著正相关;(3)网络使用自我效能在网络使用和网络利他行为的关系中具有中介作用,性别在网络使用与网络使用自我效能之间具有调节作用,相对于女生,网络使用自我效能的中介效应在男生群体中更为显著。     

Tri-ethnic alcohol use and religion,family, and gender

Nine different behavioral responses to alcohol by over two hundred ninth-graders in Austin, Texas, were examined in a survey designed to identify the relationship between adolescents' alcohol use, religious affiliation, religiosity, and gender. The relationship between alcohol use and family adaptability was also examined. While religious affiliation was found to be mildly predictive of use, religiosity determined only specific behavior. Gender differences in alcohol use appeared to be narrowing. Family adaptability was the most predictive variable, showing a relationship with six of the nine kinds of alcohol behavior. Future studies of family influences on adolescents' alcohol behavior and alcohol use among females are recommended.     

Substance use and abuse among children and teenagers

During the past several years, there has been a renewed national concern about drug abuse, culminating in the current "war on drugs." In this review, we emphasize that even though child or teenage drug use is an individual behavior, it is embedded in a sociocultural context that strongly determines its character and manifestations. Our focus is on psychoactive substances both licit (cigarettes and alcohol) and illicit (e.g., cannabis and cocaine). We feel that it is critical to draw a distinction between use and abuse of drugs and to do so from a multidimensional perspective that includes aspects of the stimulus (drug), organism (individual), response, and consequences. Our selective review of substance use and abuse among children and adolescents covers epidemiology (patterns and extent of drug use), etiology (what generates substance use), prevention (how to limit drug use), treatment (interventions with drug users), and consequences (effects and outcomes of youthful drug use).     

Context and cognitions: environmental risk, social influence, and adolescent substance use

This study examined the cognitions thought to mediate the impact of context on adolescent substance use and also the extent to which context moderates the relations between these cognitions and use. Risk cognitions and behaviors were assessed in a panel of 746 African American adolescents (M age 10.5 at Wave 1, 12.2 at Wave 2). Results indicated that adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods were more inclined toward substance use and more likely to be using at Wave 2. These context effects were mediated by the adolescents' risk cognitions: their risk images, willingness to use, and intentions to use. Also, context moderated the relation between willingness and use (the relation was stronger in high-risk neighborhoods) but it did not moderate the intentions to use relation.     

Trajectories of alcohol and drug use and dependence from adolescence to adulthood: the effects of familial alcoholism and personality

This study describes trajectories of substance use and dependence from adolescence to adulthood. Identified consumption groups include heavy drinking/heavy drug use, moderate drinking/experimental drug use, and light drinking/rare drug use. Dependence groups include alcohol only, drug only, and comorbid groups. The heavy drinking/heavy drug use group was at risk for alcohol and drug dependence and persistent dependence and showed more familial alcoholism, negative emotionality, and low constraint. The moderate drinking/experimental drug use group was at risk for alcohol dependence but not comorbid or persistent dependence and showed less negative emotionality and higher constraint. Familial alcoholism raised risk for alcohol and drug use and dependence in part because children from alcoholic families were more impulsive and lower in agreeableness.     

Religion and youth substance use

This research study of 13,878 youths indicates that religion is not by itself a very important predictor of youth substance use. It is, however, more strongly related to alcohol use than drug use. Also, fundamentalist religious groups have the lowest percentages of substance use in general, while the more liberal types of religious groups have the lowest percentages of heavy substance use. Of the six dimensions of religion used in the study to predict youth substance use, importance of religion to the subject was the most important, with church membership second, and the fundamentalism-liberalism scale of religious groups third.     

Moderation and Mediation of HIV-Prevention Interventions: Relationship Status,Intentions, and Condom Use Among College Students1

This study examined the effects of 2 HIV prevention interventions on condom use and mediators of condom use. College students were randomly assigned to a control condition or an intervention (communication skills or technical skills). Those who received either intervention had greater condom use self-efficacy, more positive condom use attitudes, and stronger intentions to use condoms than did controls. Furthermore, 3-month follow-up data revealed that students in either intervention who were not in a steady dating relationship reported more consistent condom use than did those in the control condition, whereas students who were in either intervention and in a relationship reported somewhat less consistent condom use than did those in the control condition. Analyses suggested that effects of the interventions on condom use were mediated by increased intentions to use condoms.     

Metacognition and mathematics strategy use

The role of children's metacognitive knowledge in their mathematics strategy use was studied by a longitudinal examination of second graders' effort attributions, metacognition for mathematics, and strategy use while solving mathematics problems. Children's correct use of retrieval, internal and external strategies, and the prevalence of strategy use were assessed in September and the following January. Effort attributions for success and failure were also assessed at both points in time. In January, metacognitive knowledge about mathematics strategies was measured. Second graders possess metacognitive knowledge about mathematics strategies, and this knowledge is correlated most strongly with the tendency to use internal strategies in September and correct internal strategy use in September. Effort attributions measured at both timepoints were significantly related to metacognition. Effort attributions in January also correlated with the tendency to use internal strategies in January. In general, the results are consistent with self-system theories, which posit that metacognition, motivation, and strategy use work together to promote learning.     

Women,men, and condoms: attitudes and experiences of heterosexual college students

Little is known concerning gender and ethnic differences in attitudes about condoms or about the impact of attitudes on condom use. College students ( N = 393) rated many features of condoms. Overall, students were mildly positive about condoms, believing they offer effective protection but detract from sexual sensation. Both past condom use and future intentions to use condoms were higher among students with more favorable global attitudes toward condoms and more favorable specific beliefs about the interpersonal dynamics of condom use. Future intentions to use condoms were also associated with greater worry about sexually transmitted diseases and fewer previous sexual partners. Women were more favorable toward condoms than men. Gender differences also emerged in the predictors of condom use. Implications for assessing condom attitudes and for increasing condom use among young heterosexuals are discussed.     

Illicit drug use and risky sexual behavior among African American and Puerto Rican urban adolescents: the longitudinal links

The authors assessed whether (a) early illicit drug use predicted later risky sexual activity, (b) early risky sex predicted later illicit drug use, and (c) common factors affected both risky sexual behavior and illicit drug use. African American and Puerto Rican youth completed questionnaires in their classrooms at Time 1 (T1) and face-to-face interviews with the authors in their homes 5 years later at Time 2 (T2). Logistic regression analyses showed the association between T1 illicit drug use and T2 risky sexual activity and between T1 risky sexual behavior and T2 illicit drug use. With few exceptions, T1 illicit drug use was associated with all of the T2 risky sexual behaviors. After controlling for demographic factors, the authors found that multiple sex partners at T1 was not related to illicit drug use at T2. Condom use at T1 was related to illicit drug use at T2, whereas sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent pregnancy were not related to this drug use. The findings indicated that assessments of and treatments for substance use should focus on the risky sexual behaviors that seem to accompany illicit drug use.