The problem this study addressed involves how college students since the year 2020 in the U.S. have been negotiating romance, dating, and sexual relationships in the unique historical period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, this study addressed the problem of needing to determine how the pandemic may have disrupted college students' intimate…

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand teens' views on their school experiences, friendships and future plans. The Center conducted an online survey of 1,391 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 from September 18 to October 10, 2024, through Ipsos. Ipsos recruited the teens via their parents, who were part of its KnowledgePanel. The…

LifeSkills Training is the only program to prevent substance use disorder among adolescents that has evidence of effects on substance use outcomes from multiple randomized controlled trials. Evaluations have shown that the version for middle school students reduces their use of substances in high school, but these studies were conducted in the…

Over the past 20 years, substance use (SU) among adolescents has decreased to the lowest levels in decades. While there has been a decline, these public health successes have not been shared equally. Significant racial and ethnic disparities exist, with Black and Latinx adolescents, as well as adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,…

Young adolescents undergo rapid physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and sexual development, including puberty, sexual awareness, gender identity, physiological brain and cognitive growth, complex emotions, and impulse control. Tragically, thousands of adolescents die daily from mostly preventable causes such as violence, sexual health problems…

Background: Translation science entails application of information gained through scientific research to practices intended to improve prevention and public health. The outreach arm of Land-Grant Universities--the Cooperative Extension System--is uniquely poised to facilitate this translation process and contribute to resolution of current…

Objective: Pilot study to assess the efficacy of a multidisciplinary educational training program (OverdosED) designed to increase college students' knowledge of and confidence in their ability to appropriately recognize and respond to suspected overdose on depressant substances. Participants: Undergraduate students (n = 92) with Greek life…

During adolescence, adolescents are given more freedom to independently interact with a variety of social contexts. The eco-developmental model suggests that the activity spaces where adolescents spend their time affect substance-use behaviors beyond peer influences, and that the relationships may differ based on the adolescent's demographic…

Objective: To identify subgroups of urban youth based on their self- and teacher-reported mental health symptoms, and to explore characteristics of these subgroups. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 426 eighth-grade students (M[subscript age] = 13.22 years; 70.1% Black/ African American; 58.7% female) across 20 Baltimore City public schools were…

Historically, students of color have experienced an increased risk for exclusionary discipline outcomes (Children's Defense Fund, 1975). Discipline disproportionality continues to be a major problem in our schools today (McIntosh et al., 2018). The focus of most of the research has been on African American males; however, African American females…

Substance abuse in adolescents has been recognized as a public health problem at the national and global levels. Adolescents are at risk for experimenting with substances. School nurses in secondary schools are well positioned to screen and counsel students on substance use. In this project, school nurses' self-efficacy levels increased in using…

Although adolescent females with asthma are at increased risk for bullying, relationships between bullying at school and electronic bullying and demographics, mental health issues, and substance use have not specifically been studied in these young women. The purpose of this research was to examine such relationships among adolescent females with…

History of concussion is associated with substance use. Data from the 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 14,765) were used in this study to examine associations between sports- or physical activity-related concussions and current cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use among high school students, and whether other factors moderate those…

Adolescents with specific learning disabilities face more challenges due to their poor academic performance, affecting the development of social skills and struggles in identity formation. This study examined the coping and perceived social support of adolescents with and without learning disabilities. This study also investigated the relationship…

A self-report instrument was used to assess trends over time in student views of Developmental Assets in a rural Missouri county where youth report high rates of substance use. Based on 2012 survey results, a community/school-based prevention coalition provided intensive prevention education curricula integrated into the district's afterschool…