Background: Prevention of early age initiation of cannabis use is a national priority, highlighting the importance of identifying cannabis-specific attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control in relation to initiation age. Methods: Data were from the NEXT Generation Health Study, a national longitudinal sample of US adolescents followed…

High-risk sexual behaviors (HRSBs; e.g., having sex without protection against pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections) are a public health problem. HRSBs disproportionally impact college students and are associated with numerous negative outcomes, such as unwanted pregnancies. Alcohol use has been strongly linked to HRSBs in college…

Objective: Kratom use represents a growing risk for public health. The present study examined demographic and behavioral factors linked with kratom use. Participants: Participants were college students in the United States who participated in the 2019-2020 Healthy Minds Study. Methods: Participants completed survey-based assessment of kratom use…

The aim of this study was to examine trends in cannabis use among Spanish students from 2006 to 2018 by sex, age, and sex and age combined. Data showed a global decrease both in a lifetime and frequent cannabis use between 2006 and 2018 but four-year comparisons revealed more variability within the specific sex-age groups. No change was found in…

Objective: Substance use peaks in emerging adulthood, with evidence suggesting that college-attending emerging adults have a higher rate of substance use than their non-college attending peers. More insight into the factors that might contribute to substance use among college-attending emerging adults is needed. The current study examined the…

Background: Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. There has been a rapidly changing marijuana policy environment and increased acceptability related to marijuana in the United States. How the changing environment will potentially influence adolescents age of initiation remains unknown. While much of extant…

Multidimensional causes of insufficient sleep among adolescents are not fully explored, particularly, the association between substance use and sleep duration. The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) of high school students (N = 14,638; 51% female, 14-18 years old) was used to examine the association between substance use, namely…

The meta-analysis, that included 75 studies, examined the relationship between illegal drug consumption, on the one hand, and student academic and behavioral outcomes, on the other, for the middle school to college grade levels. The meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship…

Objectives: Evaluate the association between perceived risk of harm and self-reported binge drinking, cigarette smoking, and marijuana smoking among college students. Participants: Participants were 599 students (ages 19-28) at a large Midwestern university recruited from October 2015 to December 2017. Methods: Hurdle regression was used to test…

This study theorizes and tests moderators (perceived availability of marijuana and age-group) of the association between adolescents' frequency of marijuana ad exposure and past-year marijuana use. To test this model, I analyzed national survey data from 9,024 American adolescents with hierarchical regression techniques. Results showed that being…

This volume presents new 2021 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future follow-up (panel) study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. We report 2021 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examine how substance use differs across this age span, and show…

Legalization of non-medical cannabis in Canada was intended to protect youth health and safety by limiting access and raising awareness of safety and risks. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore youths' perceptions of their cannabis health literacy and future educational needs. A convenience sample of youth aged 13 to 18 residing…

There are no nationally representative estimates of the prevalence of dating abuse-related stalking and harassment. We analyzed data collected from 320 twelve- to 18-year-old U.S. youth. Youth with dating experience were asked whether a dating partner had ever spied on or followed them, damaged something that belonged to them, or gone through…

Background: Associations between religious involvement and substance use are well established. However, limited research examines the effects of religious affiliation, informal participation, and network support on substance use among two distinct age cohorts. Objectives: This study aims to examine whether religious affiliation, informal…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine differences between current and non-current cigarette users, focusing on sociodemographic factors, non-cigarette tobacco product use, parental and friend use, and alcohol and marijuana use; and to identify predictors of cigarette use six months later. Participants: Participants included young…