The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence and factors associated with weapon carrying in Colombian high-school students. A cross-sectional study was designed to analyze this phenomenon among students aged between 13 and 17 years. A sample of 1462 students participated, 18.46% of which reported having planned suicide, 56.16% reported…

Objective: The current study is aimed to evaluate college student residence as a unique risk factor for a range of negative health behaviors. Participants: We examined data from 63,555 students (66% females) from 157 campuses who completed the National College Health Assessment Survey in Spring 2011. Methods: Participants answered questions about…

Objective: This study investigated associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) prior to age 18 years and multiple health behaviors (eg, cigarette and other substance use) and outcomes (eg, obesity, depression) for a large college sample. Participants: 2,969 college students from seven universities in the state of Georgia were included…

This study investigated the age of onset of substance use among 536 students with mild academic disabilities and 906 students without academic disabilities, and the extent to which emotional, conduct, and hyperactivity problems explain the differences between these two groups. Using discrete-time survival analysis, the results of this study showed…

This study investigates whether co-occurring depressive and conduct symptoms in early adolescence are associated with an elevated occurrence of early onset substance. Five hundred twenty-one sixth graders were assessed for depressive symptoms and conduct problems and underwent five substance use assessments during middle school. Logistic…

The literature is equivocal regarding the role of internalizing problems in the etiology of adolescent substance use. In this study, we examined the association of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and their co-occurrence with early adolescent substance use to help clarify whether internalizing problems operate as a risk or…

Family structure is associated with a range of adolescent risk behaviours, with those living in both parent families generally faring best. This study describes the association between family structure and adolescent risk behaviours and assesses the role of the family meal. Data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey were…

In a sample of 998 ethnically diverse adolescents, a multiagent, multimethod approach to the measurement of adolescent effortful control, adolescent substance use, and friendship influence was used to predict escalations to early-adult tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use by ages 22-23. Structural equation modeling revealed that adolescent…

The identification of developmentally specific windows at which key predictors of adolescent substance use are most influential is a crucial task for informing the design of appropriately targeted substance use prevention and intervention programs. The current study examined effects of conduct problems and depressive symptomatology on changes in…

This article used the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) data to examine the relationship between exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and child behavior problems (externalizing and internalizing), truancy, grade repetition, smoking, drinking, and use of marijuana. Longitudinal data analysis was conducted on 1,816…

Injury is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among adolescents in developed countries. Jessor and Jessor's Problem Behavior Theory suggests an association between risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, drunkenness, cannabis use, and sexual intercourse) and adolescent injury. The present study examined whether early engagement in risk behaviors…

Evidence for shared heritable influences across domains of substance use suggests that some genetic variants influence broad risk for externalizing behaviors. Theories of externalizing psychopathology also suggest that genetic liability for substance use manifests as temperamental risk factors, particularly those related to behavioral…

Objective: The Internet represents a new and widely available forum for gambling. However, relatively few studies have examined Internet gambling in adolescents. This study sought to investigate the correlates of at-risk or problem gambling in adolescents acknowledging or denying gambling on the Internet. Method: Survey data from 2,006 Connecticut…

Students who engage in high-risk behaviors, including early initiation of sexual intercourse, alcohol use, marijuana use, tobacco use, and externalizing behavior are vulnerable to a broad range of adverse outcomes as adults. Latent class analysis was used to determine whether varying patterns of risk behavior existed for 212 urban African-American…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is designed to give sustained attention to substance use among the nation's youth and adults. It is an investigator-initiated study that originated with and is conducted by a team of research professors at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. Since its onset in 1975, MTF has been continuously…