Compared adopted and nonadopted adolescents across variety of measures. Found that adopted adolescents were at higher risk in all domains examined, including school achievement and problems, psychological well-being, and physical health. Effect sizes for group differences were larger for males, younger or older adolescents, Hispanics or Asians,…

Studied the social networks and daily activities of children and adolescents living or working on the streets of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Found that youngsters who lived at home and worked on the street appeared to be experiencing orderly development despite their impoverished circumstances. Youngsters who lived on the streets, however, showed…

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…

Profiles a case study of a Puerto Rican community in New England to determine how natural support systems and human service organizations within the community influence substance abuse program development. Provides recommendations for community-based substance abuse programs. (SNR)

In an effort to examine the transition status of Apache Native American school leavers, a 38-item survey collected information from 48 former students with and without learning disabilities. Results indicated the students with learning disabilities had higher rates of unemployment and substance abuse and were less likely to live independently or…

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…

The Leadership Project uses community partnerships to initiate a systematic response to drug and alcohol use, violence, and crime among teenagers in Alexandria, New Zealand. Aspects of the project include adventure-based violence intervention and counseling in the high school and leadership training at an outdoor education center. Preliminary…

Longitudinal evaluation of a substance abuse prevention program that involved older adults mentoring adolescents, community service activities, and school-based life skills education. Surveys of low-income 6th graders who participated in intervention, curriculum only, or control conditions indicated that mentoring resulted in significantly fewer…

Despite evidence that school factors are associated with differences in various types of student behavior, little research has explored the predictive utility of school factors for school-level substance offense rates. Using data from the State of Florida Department of Education and the Census, we explore the associations between school climate…

Objective: This study's aim was to determine how patients' and providers' characteristics affect hospital providers' decisions to screen pregnant and postpartum women for illicit substances. Methods: A retrospective design was used. Participants included all low-income women (N=1,100) who delivered at an urban teaching hospital over a 12-month…

To date, assessments of the prevalence of mental health problems in young offenders have largely focused on incarcerated samples. This paper describes a quantitative study of a sample of 47 male young offenders under the supervision of an inner city Youth Offending Team. A semi-structured interview, modified from previous studies, was used to…

Kansas school psychologists were extremely accurate in their estimates of violence in their own schools and viewed school violence prevention as an important part of their job, regardless of the rates of violence in their districts. Most had at least some involvement in their own school's violence prevention program, although many reported that…

Assuring learning outcomes that result in expert alcohol and drug dependency counseling is a continuous challenge for educators. Working systemically to craft a solid vision for the future, the Hazelden Foundation developed a graduate school for the sole purpose of educating highly skilled clinicians. Key ingredients included building a…

Incumbent upon those faculty who teach substance abuse courses is the need to integrate elderly alcoholism-related course content to encourage and adequately prepare university students to serve this "hidden" population. Course content would ideally include theories specific to loss-grief, aging, and alcoholism. In addition, field placement…

Effectively identifying and responding to the psychosocial problems and recidivism risk of arrested youths remain critical needs in the field. Centralized intake facilities, such as juvenile assessment centers (JACs), can play a key role in this process. As part of a U.S. National Demonstration Project, the Miami-Dade JAC, serving a…