The harmful effects of smoking tobacco are discussed. Instructions, lists of materials, and discussion questions for three activities to investigate these effects are provided. A glossary of tobacco-use terms is given. (CW)

Examined drug use, involvement in problem behavior, and family and peer predictors of these behaviors among Indian and white adolescents in a Canadian urban community. Found the groups had a similar rate for alcohol use; however, Indian adolescents showed higher rates and more frequent use of cigarettes, marijuana, solvents, and greater…

Describes the Seventh Grade Tobacco Prevention (S.T.E.P.) program, evaluating its impact on adolescent tobacco use, tobacco knowledge, and beliefs about tobacco use. Results revealed that same-age peers had the least effect in changing the students' knowledge level, had a negative effect on changing students' beliefs, and had a negative effect on…

Quantitative and qualitative methods explored the relationships among depression and substance use across suburban (164 students) and inner-city (242 students) high schools. Qualitative analyses suggest that quantitative differences in these relationships may be related to the meanings of depression and substance use in the cultural context. (SLD)

The problems presented by alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse among college students are varied and sometimes complex. College student health services should continue to take a leadership role in addressing substance abuse issues on campus, through efforts to change both behavior and environment. (MSE)

The level of accurate health knowledge that young adult women possess regarding selected information dealing with nutrition; disease; and over-the-counter, prescription, and social drugs is discussed. Sections include the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and implications for biology teachers. (KR)

The relationship between substance use (tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol) and conduct problems and delinquency was investigated for 2,573 boys in grades one, four, and seven in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). Substance use is an indicator of boys who exhibit problem behaviors. Results are related to a developmental conceptualization of these problems.…

A survey of 168 American Indian (primarily Navajo) high school seniors in New Mexico examined experiences with alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs; sources of information about these substances; and student attitudes, perceptions of risk, perceptions of parent attitudes, and reasons for not using. Implications for drug education are discussed. (SV)

Sixth graders completed a survey investigating the relationship of school and home self-esteem to history of substance use, membership in alternative education programs, gender, and race. Both school and home self-esteem inversely related to tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Students in nonmainstream programs had significantly lower home and school…

Presents proceedings of the American Association of Dental Schools' International Women's Leadership Conference. Addresses, panel presentations, and general-sessions topics included leadership training and promotion for women in dental education, women's health issues and research, the glass ceiling, infrastructures for research and training,…

Studies on race-based admissions, sports and sex, and religion and drugs suggest that: affirmative action policies were successful regarding college admissions; boys who play sports are more likely to be sexually active than their peers, with the opposite true for girls; and religion is a major factor in whether teens use cigarettes, alcohol, and…

Summarizes U.S. data from the 1997-98 World Health Organization Health Behavior in School-Aged Children Study, which examined the attitudes and experiences of children age 11, 13, and 15 years on various health behavior and lifestyle issues. Results are presented on: health and well-being; family relationships; school relationships; school…

Investigated the prevalence of health risk behaviors among diverse middle school students. Data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey-Middle School indicated that respondents engaged in multiple health risk behaviors, with 24.4 percent seriously considering suicide, 53.5 percent having been in a physical fight, 50.2 percent ever drinking, 17.9…

Examines self-consistency and self-enhancement motivation roles in adolescent cigarette smoking. Respondents were 1,971 fifth through eighth graders. They were asked to provide information about the number of cigarettes they had smoked in their lifetime and to rate themselves and most smokers on nine dimensions tapping coolness, sociability, and…

An Icelandic study examined the relation between parenting style and adolescent substance use at age 14 and longitudinally from 14 to 17 years. Findings indicated that adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative were more protected against substance use than adolescents who perceived their parents as neglectful, both concurrently…