This article reviews the scope and dynamics of heart, lung, and blood diseases and explains the need for research on primary prevention programs for children. Suggestions for school health education programs that contribute to disease prevention are delineated. (Author/DF)

The period of major risk for initiation to cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana is completed mostly by age 20, and to illicit drugs other than cocaine by age 21. Overall patterns are similar for both sexes, with men initiating all drugs (except prescribed psychoactives) at higher rates than women. (Author/GC)

A cohort of former New York State adolescents were reinterviewed nine years after an initial survey. Drug use predictions, it was found, can be based on age effects and prior types of drug use; marijuana use, for example, is necessary for progression to other illicit drugs. (KH)

Administered a health behavior and attitudes questionnaire to 511 fifth- and sixth-grade students. Questions included locus of control and self-esteem items and questions concerning smoking, drinking, and marijuana use. Results indicated that the relationships between health locus of control and self-esteem and their behaviors and intentions is…

Surveyed 596 fifth through seventh graders regarding their cigarette and alcohol behaviors, attitudes, knowledge. Approximately one third of the students were experimental users of these substances. Pro-smoking and pro-drinking attitudes were directly related to use. Knowledge about smoking and drinking were inversely related to use. (JAC)

A study was conducted at a large midwestern university to assess effectiveness of health behavior contracts for students enrolled in a personal health course. Results showed that health behavior contracts, as utilized in this study, appeared to have no significant impact on participant health behavior. (JMK)

This study explored the personality correlates of substance use by administering a questionnaire consisting of the Mini Markers Scale and items assessing substance abuse to 108 high school students and 155 college students. The Mini Markers Scale is a 40 item self-report inventory that measures basic dimensions of personality, including…

Tobacco is routinely used during the school day by many middle school, junior, and senior high school students. Since the cost of tobacco addiction in terms of illness and the drain on school resources are enormous, an in-school cessation program is needed. No other institution in the community is better situated to provide intervention programs…

This report on smoking and health, the twenty-third in a series that was begun in 1964, is the first in this series to focus on young people. It underscores the seriousness of tobacco use and its relationship to other adolescent problem behaviors. Examined here are the past few decades' scientific literature on the factors that influence the onset…

This curriculum planning guide is designed to help Montana school districts design an appropriate tobacco use prevention and education program. It focuses on: "Tobacco Use Prevention Education: The OPI (Office of Public Instruction) Perspective"; "Instructional Guidelines" (key issues in program planning and major health…

This report presents the first information from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. Prior to 2002, the survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This initial report on the 2002 data…

This report presents the first information from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older. Prior to 2002, the survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This brief Overview report provides a…

This report discusses findings from the Monitoring the Future study in relation to adolescent cigarette preferences. Results show that in 1998, 19.1% of the eighth graders, 27.6% of the tenth graders, and 35.1% of the twelfth graders reported smoking within 30 days prior to the survey. By the time they finish high school, 65.2% of American young…

Article considered the results of a teachers workshop on smoking and air pollution education and offered suggestions for chapters in planning workshops. (Author/RK)

Described is a test designed to appraise the knowledge and actual practice of high school graduates concerning the use of mood-altering substances. (Author)