Mindfulness refers to experiencing one's self and environment in a conscious and unbiased manner focusing on the temporary, passing quality of thoughts, feelings, and life. Treatment providers have employed mindfulness-based interventions to manage issues including stress, depression, and substance abuse; however, few have measured exactly what…

The impact of a parent's incarceration and adolescents' emotional health on their substance abuse and delinquency is described for a group of at-risk 10- to 14-year-old adolescents. Data were drawn from a two-wave longitudinal study from the federally funded Children at Risk program, ongoing in five states from 1993 to 1997. Results point to a…

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among college students, and it is estimated that 1,088 college students die by suicide each year (National Mental Health Association and the Jed Foundation, 2002). This chapter presents the context of college student mental health within which the problem of college student suicide is situated. Because…

Therapeutic communities (TCs) have a strong record of maintaining high quality social climates in prison units. One possible reason for this is the system of mutual monitoring among TC residents, based on the assumption that peer affirmation of behavior in accord with TC norms, and peer correction of behavior contrary to TC norms, will lead to…

Objective: To determine the effect of an educational and environmental intervention on diet, body mass index, and waist circumference of men in substance addiction treatment. Methods: One hundred three racially/ethnically diverse men in 6 urban substance addiction residential treatment facilities in Upstate New York participated in weekly…

Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were used to test the contributions of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, PCP, and other illicit drugs to violence in early adulthood (e.g., took part in a gang fight, pulled a knife or gun, used a weapon in a fight, used a weapon to get something). The…

Strong associations between conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and substance use disorders (SUD) seem to reflect a general vulnerability to externalizing behaviors. Recent studies have characterized this vulnerability on a continuous scale, rather than as distinct categories, suggesting that the revision of the…

Psychological constructs, such as negative affect and substance use cravings that closely predict relapse, show substantial intraindividual day-to-day variability. This intraindividual variability of relevant psychological states combined with the "one day at a time" nature of sustained abstinence warrant a day-to-day investigation of substance…

This volume presents new 2018 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. The authors report 2018 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examine how substance use differs across this age span, and…

Adolescent cannabis use is associated with working memory impairment. The present randomized controlled trial assigned adolescents ages 14 to 21 enrolled in cannabis use treatment to receive either working memory training (experimental group) or a control training (control group) as an adjunctive treatment. Cognitive function, drug use, and other…

A joint effort by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in schools and colleges. This report presents data on crime at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population from an array of sources--the National Crime…

Youth's free time is an opportunity for profound development of skills, attitudes and behaviors. Research on this topic has focused on middle class or White communities. The current study, conducted with an urban, low-income sample of 138 African American adolescents, examined associations between parental monitoring, support of autonomy and…

This study investigated the use of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2) to screen for co-occurring disorders in an adolescent outpatient treatment program and to provide a preliminary assessment of those needs. The MAYSI-2 identified youth with co-occurring disorders and the results support existing recommendations for distinct…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which two of the three sources of risk-taking--dispositional and ecological--in adolescence and demographic variables were related to Ritalin, tranquilizer and narcotics misuse. The secondary aim of this study was to distinguish subgroups of Ritalin, tranquilizer, and narcotics…

State public health authorities are critical to the successful implementation of science based addiction treatment practices by community-based providers. The literature to date, however, lacks examples of state level policy strategies that promote evidence-based practices (EBPs). This mixed-methods study documents changes in two critical…