Data focused on illegal alcohol and marijuana use were collected in 1981 from 4,859 high school students living in two rural counties in southern Georgia. The sample consisted of over 85% of all students in grades 8 through 12 within the two counties. The data were used to test a facilitative-constraint model developed from selected components of…

In an attempt to link public school expenditures to educational outputs, achievement test results of 6,605 elementary students in St. Louis, Missouri, were analyzed to see whether training and experience of teachers has an impact on student outcomes. The researchers matched individual students with teachers for five-year periods during grades…

Recent theoretical and empirical study has considerably refined knowledge as to the dynamics of peer processes operative within secondary schools, but has tended to neglect models incorporating reciprocal effects. This situation results partly from a scarcity of appropriate data, and partly from limitations of older methodologies of estimating…

National surveys of teenagers have provided information for making decisions about smoking prevention programs. Repeated surveys are necessary because smoking patterns change over time. The prevalence of adolescent smoking and the variables related to it were investigated as well as the potential utility of those variables in predicting habitual…

Several individual attributes covering prereading and oral language abilities, motor skills, personality, and home background were assessed. The best predictors of reading achievement were tasks tapping phonological processing skills, interdigital dexterity, and familiarity with the alphabetic code of English script. Peer ability was a strong…

Compared non-users and users of alcohol and/or marijuana (N=1,020) in an inner city junior high school. Separate subcultures were strongly indicated with differences in attitudes, behavior, peer group, and significant adults. Almost any activity was seen as appropriate for a drug abuse prevention program. (JAC)

Used data from 459 college students to outline a problem specific approach to alcohol abuse prevention. Survey data described the distribution of drinkers and nondrinkers, group differences in consumption, and problems commonly experienced. Relationships between consumption and beliefs, attitudes and social pressure were used to design peer…

Data from a 1992 statewide survey of students in grades 5-12 were analyzed to determine the extent to which cigarette smoking predicted alcohol and other drug use and acted as a gateway drug. Results indicated smoking was a powerful predictor for alcohol and drug use, and the relationship was dose responsive. (SM)

Reports findings on changes in adolescent-crowd orientations using national data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Categorizes high school students into five prototypical peer-crowd orientations at tenth and twelfth grade. Illuminates the change in students' peer crowd orientation by examining individual and relationship…

The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in college students' high-risk drinking as measured by an estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC) based on gender, height, weight, self-reported number of drinks, and hours spent drinking. Using a developmental/contextual framework, high-risk drinking is conceptualized as a function…

Building on prior Latino ethnic identity research, this study had three goals: describe age-related trends in ethnic identity among young adults, examine relations among ethnic identity and individual factors, and explore the impact of family and peer socialization on ethnic identity. The participants (two hundred 19- to 30-year-olds; mean age =…

The current study of 376 college freshman adjudicated the first time for breaking university drinking rules tested the predictive power of four alcohol consumption and problem drinking indices--recent changes in drinking (the Alcohol Change Index: ACI), heavy drinking, binge drinking index, and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)…

This paper presents an exploratory analysis using NLSY97 data of the relationship between the likelihood of school continuation and the choices of whether to smoke or drink. We demonstrate that in the United States as of the late 1990s, smoking in 11th-grade was a uniquely powerful predictor of whether the student finished high school, and if so…

Examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of fifth- and eighth-grade urban parochial school students (N=3,785) regarding alcoholic beverages. Survey results showed a religiously oriented school environment had little influence on drinking behavior. Family, friends, and cultural norms were strong influences. Sixth and seventh grades appear…

A study was conducted to determine variables which would predict smoking among 297 seventh graders and to test the validity of the variables in a followup one year later. The most valid predictors were number of friends and siblings who smoked and the intention to smoke in the future. (PP)