The theory of planned behavior identifies important proximal determinants of behavior, including attitude toward the behavior, perception of subjective norms exerted by significant others, and perception of perceived control over performance of the behavior. Because research in the planned behavior tradition has focused on desirable target…

A multidimensional item response theory model that accounts for response style factors is presented. The model, a multidimensional extension of Bock's nominal response model, is shown to allow for the study and control of response style effects in ordered rating scale data so as to reduce bias in measurement of the intended trait. In the current…

Acculturation discrepancy theory predicts that conflicting cultural preferences between adolescents and their parents will increase the adolescents' risk for behavior problems such as substance use. This study evaluated this hypothesis in a sample of 1683 Hispanic students in Southern California who completed surveys in 9th and 10th grade.…

Background: Studies concerning whether exposure to low levels of maternal alcohol consumption during fetal development is related to child inattention and hyperactivity symptoms have shown conflicting results. We examine the contribution of covariates related to social adversity to resolve some inconsistencies in the extant research by conducting…

Purpose: A secondary analysis of 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) data was conducted to investigate salient environmental and perceptual correlates of adolescents' current and established smoking while controlling for demographic variables such as gender, grade, and race/ethnicity and to compare the pattern of significant…

Although tobacco use is reported by the majority of substance use disordered (SUD) youth, little work has examined tobacco focused interventions with this population. The present study is an initial investigation of the effect of a tobacco use intervention on adolescent SUD treatment outcomes. Participants were adolescents in SUD treatment taking…

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are critical windows for establishing life-long behaviors. We assessed long-term outcomes of a prospective randomized harm reduction/health promotion program for female high school athletes. The intervention's immediate beneficial effects on diet pill use and unhealthy eating behaviors have been reported;…

A study was conducted to evaluate whether prenatal smoking was only related to externalizing or both internalizing and externalizing problems in children from childhood to early adolescence. Results indicated that maternal smoking during pregnancy is an accurate predictor of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology among children.

Young adults between the ages of 20 to 24 are reported to have the highest smoking rates of any other age group. A questionnaire was used to assess the smoking practices and beliefs of 323 female university students. All participants were first year students entering university in a city where smoke-free legislation had been enacted. Results…

Based on voice-history data, a X[superscript 2] test was used to investigate the difference between students of acting (n = 45) and other students (n = 45). A t-test was used to calculate the differences in acoustic parameters between the two groups. It was expected that students of acting spent significantly more time practicing voice exercises,…

The smoking behavior of friends is a major risk factor for adolescent smoking uptake. To explore the social context of smoking experimentation and consolidation with a particular focus on friends, the authors interviewed both members of 14 young adult identical twin pairs who were discordant for smoking. The different smoking status of twins was…

The first purpose of this study was to report how many college students, 18 to 25 years of age, are classified as "emerging adults," "undecideds" or "adults." The second purpose was to determine the relationships between emerging adults versus adults and (a) background characteristics, (b) risk-taking behaviors; (c) sensation-seeking scores, and…

Objective: Advertising influences the health-related behaviors of college-aged individuals. Cigarette manufacturers aggressively market to young adults and may exploit their affinity for alcohol when creating advertisements designed to increase cigarettes' appeal. Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that cigarette manufacturers understood…

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse--one of the National Institutes of Health. The study comprises several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally…

Background: Non-medical prescription drug use is an increasing problem among university students. Purpose: The present study investigated university students' involvement in non-medical prescription drug (NMPD) use and associations between use and other risky behaviors. Methods: A sample of 363 university students completed a four page survey…