A short-term outcome evaluation of the "I'm Special" drug abuse prevention program: a revisit using SCAT inventory

In the previous evaluation of "I'm Special" (ISP) drug abuse prevention/education program, the long-term impact was reported. The current study examines the short-term outcome of the ISP to establish a conceptual link between what has been observed longitudinally to the short-term outcome. The evaluation instrument used is children's Self-Concept Attitudinal (SCAT) Inventory. Subjects are the third grade students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The evaluation design employed is before and after-measurement without a control group. In the absence of a control group, the treatment effect of the ISP is estimated on the basis of individual growth curve models. Through the study, it has been learned that the ISP was able to generate positive changes along six attitudinal dimensions included in the SCAT Inventory. The six scales have shown close relationships to student performance at school: student-teacher relationship; self-esteem, attitude toward school, basic social values, advanced social values, and the perception of family cohesiveness. Of these, the first four scales have shown statistical significance at the .05 level. It is estimated that the ISP is capable of generating a significant amount of positive attitudinal changes on a short-term basis with a time span of about four months between pre- and posttests. These findings are consistent with the conclusions obtained from the longitudinal study where student alcohol and other drug using behavior and other related student problem behaviors were significantly lower among the ISP recipients than non-recipients of the program.     

Impact of a classroom behavior management intervention on teacher risk ratings for student behavior

Classroom behavior management interventions have been used successfully with drug prevention programs to prevent subsequent antisocial behavior and substance use among youth. This article presents results from implementation of the All Stars Challenge, a classroom-based behavior management component to a drug prevention program for fifth graders. Risk ratings for shyness and lack of awareness of social norms among high-risk students who received the All Stars Challenge were reduced compared with fifth graders who did not receive the intervention. In contrast, physical and social aggressivity among low-risk students who received the program increased when compared to similar control students.     

A Tobit Regression Analysis of the Covariation Between Middle School Students' Perceived School Climate and Behavioral Problems

This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents' perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order or more positive student–teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems.     

Psychosocial,Motivational, and Contextual Profiles of Youth Reporting Different Patterns of Substance Use During Adolescence

This research examined patterns of substance use and academic factors among a sample of 733 African‐American and European‐American adolescents from a metropolitan area. First, youth were classified into 11th grade high, moderate, or no substance use groups and classified as users, initiators, desistors, and nonusers based on eighth and 11th grade use. Nonusers did not differ in eighth grade from 11th grade moderate users and initiators over time. Eighth graders who reported misbehavior and having low‐achieving friends were more likely to be high 11th grade users and users at both grades. Direct achievement effects were not found; however, interactions indicated achievement was protective when paired with having fun at school, high task value, and low levels of socioeconomic status (SES); and was a risk factor when paired with positive self regard, low fun at school and high SES. Cluster analyses indicated the most prevalent group of substance users reported high grades, social reasons for going to school, and having friends who do well in school.     

A Comparison of Gambling by Minnesota Public School Students in 1992, 1995, and 1998

The purpose of this study was to compare rates of gambling among Minnesota public school students between 1992, 1995, and 1998. The three samples included 75,806 students in the 9th and 12th grades in 1992; 73,897 9th and 12th grade students in 1995; and 78,564 9th and 12th grade students in 1998. Students were administered the Minnesota Student Survey, a 121-item, anonymous, self-administered, paper-and-pencil questionnaire that inquires about multiple behavioral domains, including gambling behaviors. The same questionnaire, with minor revisions to the gambling items, was administered in 1992, 1995, and 1998 to students in their classrooms by the Minnesota Department of Education. The results showed two opposite trends. On the one hand, fewer students gambled in 1998 than in 1995 and 1992. On the other hand, there was a small, but growing number of 12th grade students who gambled frequently. In terms of trends over time for specific games, the lottery showed a significant decline in the number of 9th grade students who played at all. There was also a significant increase in the number of 12th grade students who played the lottery weekly or more often. The findings that frequent lottery gambling has increased among 12th grade students and that underage gambling continues among these students, are both cause for concern. This is the first generation of youth to be exposed to widespread accessability to legalized gambling venues and gambling advertising. Legalized gambling may be a new "rite of passage" for some of today's youth. It will be important to continue to monitor youth gambling and to provide information and resources to assist youth in making healthy decisions about their gambling behavior.     

Preventing alcohol abuse: an examination of the "Downward Spiral" game and educational videos

Downward Spiral is a board game developed by the authors to illustrate the dangers of continued substance abuse. Previous work has found that college students and probationers find the game interesting, enjoyable, useful, and realistic [1]. In the current study, college students either played Downward Spiral, watched educational videos on substance abuse, or completed a set of questionnaires unrelated to alcohol and drug abuse. Those students who either played the game or watched the videos rated both as beneficial. However, students who watched videos had somewhat higher levels of consumer satisfaction. Students who played the game rated it as smoother, and they felt more positive following the session than students who watched videos. Both videos and the game increased students' intentions to limit alcohol consumption compared to students who served as controls. Individuals in the game group also indicated significantly greater intentions to change their alcohol behavior than those in the other groups.     

The effects of Project SUCCESS on student academic performance: a quasi-experimental study

Project SUCCESS (PS) is a substance use prevention program that targets indicated high school students. We used archival data to explore the program's effects on students' academic achievement and disciplinary problems. It is essential to demonstrate such effects, if prevention curricula are to survive in schools that face multiple competing demands for class time. Using a quasi-experimental design that compared students exposed to the program to those not exposed in five schools, we examined the effects of PS on grades, absenteeism, and disciplinary problems. Using longitudinal analyses that linked individual students' program exposure data to their academic performance, we found that PS had a positive impact on both grades and absenteeism for two years following exposure. We note that these findings are particularly fortuitous, as PS was not designed to affect these outcomes. We recommend that future evaluations of school-based prevention curricula routinely include academic performance.     

Migrant-nonmigrant differentials in socioeconomic status,fertility and family planning in Nepal

This study identifies the socioeconomic characterisitics of immigrants in Nepal, their fertility, and the incidence of family planning. These characterisitics are contrasted with the receiving or nonmigrant population and inferences drawn regarding the probable social and demographic impact immigrants may have on the "receiving" population. Demographic surveys were conducted annually from 1975 through 1978 in the Hills and Terai by the research and evaluation unit of the Family Planning/Maternal Child Health (FR/MCH) Project. In each of these geographic areas, all districts were matched on a set of social and demographic characteristics. 2 districts were then selected from each area on the basis of their similarity to each other. The sample design for all districts involved selection of panchayats (a political unit roughly equivalent to a country) and their wards (villages) on the basis of a procedure which refers to a selection of units based upon probabilities proportional to size of the population of the units. Currently married women aged 15-44 in all households of the secondary sampling units, i.e., wards, were interviewed. Both migrant women and their husbands had a higher level of educational attainment than nonmigrant women and their husbands. Indian migrants had higher proportions in the largest landholding groups than nonmigrant and lower proportions who are landless. The differential was maintained among Indians who had lived in the Terai for 10 years or less as well as 11 years or more. This finding was particularly striking since Indian migrants make up 25% of the sample. Current marital fertility (as measured by age specific and total fertility rates) was highest among Indian migrants, but cumulative fertility or past reproductive performance (as measured by the mean number of children ever-born) was highest among migrants from "other districts." With the exception of the youngest age group, migrants from "other districts" have higher proportion of "ever users" and "current users" of family planning than nonmigrants or migrants from India throughout the age structure. The highest proportion for both "ever users" and "current users" was reached at ages 35-39 years. Indian migrants in contrast had the lowest proportions of "ever users" and "current users" throughout the age structure (with the exception of the age group 35-39).     

Victimization,Aggression, and Other Problem Behaviors: Trajectories of Change Within and Across Middle School Grades

This study examined trajectories of victimization and problem behaviors within and across three grades of middle school. Participants were 2,166 adolescents from three urban middle schools in the United States who completed measures of victimization, physical and relational aggression, substance use, and delinquent behavior. Latent curve analyses modeled changes in each construct across 12 waves collected every 3 months. In each case, the best‐fitting model required separate linear slopes to represent changes within each grade and a factor representing decreases in the summers. Positive cross‐construct correlations were found for intercepts, linear slopes, and measures within waves. The findings suggest strong associations among victimization and problem behaviors, and individual differences in their patterns of change both within and across grades.     

Evidence for significant polydrug use among ecstasy-using college students

Ecstasy (MDMA) has been added to the spectrum of illicit drugs used by college students. In this study, the authors estimated the prevalence of ecstasy use within a large college student sample and investigated the polydrug-use history of those ecstasy users. They administered an anonymous questionnaire to college students (N = 1,206) in classrooms at a large university in the mid-Atlantic United States. The overall student response rate was 91%. Nine percent of the sample reported lifetime ecstasy use. Because 98% of ecstasy users had used marijuana, the authors compared polydrug use between ecstasy users and individuals who had used marijuana but not ecstasy. Ecstasy users, as compared with these marijuana users, were significantly more likely to have used inhalants (38% vs. 10%), LSD (38% vs. 5%), cocaine (46% vs 2%), and heroin (17% vs 1%) in the past year. Significant polydrug use among college student ecstasy users has important implications for their substance abuse treatment.     

Agreement among students', teachers', and parents' perceptions of victimization by bullying

Bullying is a growing problem in many schools today, and accurate perceptions of bullying and victimization in schools are necessary in order for programs aimed at intervention for bullying behaviors to be effective. The current study examined agreement among students', teachers', and parents' perceptions of victimization across gender and grade level by surveying 137 students in grades 3–8, and their parents and teachers using a common measure of bullying. Overall, students reported the highest levels of victimization, and teachers reported the lowest levels of victimization. This pattern was consistent across gender, but inconsistent across grade level. Students and parents had moderate agreement correlations on levels of victimization, whereas teachers and students had low agreement correlations on levels of victimization. Overall, when students and parents or teachers disagreed, the disagreement was an underestimate, rather than an overestimate on the adult's part.     

Coping with Competitors Coast to Coast

Abstract. Ecstasy (MDMA) has been added to the spectrum of illicit drugs used by college students. In this study, the authors estimated the prevalence of ecstasy use within a large college student sample and investigated the polydrug-use history of those ecstasy users. They administered an anonymous questionnaire to college students (N = 1,206) in classrooms at a large university in the mid-Atlantic United States. The overall student response rate was 91%. Nine percent of the sample reported lifetime ecstasy use. Because 98% of ecstasy users had used marijuana, the authors compared polydrug use between ecstasy users and individuals who had used marijuana but not ecstasy. Ecstasy users, as compared with these marijuana users, were significantly more likely to have used inhalants (38% vs. 10%), LSD (38% vs. 5%), cocaine (46% vs 2%), and heroin (17% vs 1%) in the past year. Significant polydrug use among college student ecstasy users has important implications for their substance abuse treatment.     

College student perceptions on campus alcohol policies and consumption patterns

Environmental strategies for colleges and universities to reduce alcohol consumption among their students include the development and enforcement of campus alcohol policies. This study examines students' knowledge and attitudes toward campus alcohol policies and how they relate to alcohol consumption and alcohol social norms. A sample of 422 freshman students was surveyed during their first month at a 4-year public college. Findings indicated that the majority of students (89%) were aware of campus policies, yet of those who were aware, less than half (44%) were accepting of these campus rules and regulations. In addition, the majority (79%) of students drank at social events, despite this behavior being in direct violation of campus alcohol policies. However, those who supported campus rules consumed significantly less alcohol at social events than those who opposed or had no opinion of the rules. Also, those who supported the rules perceived that their peers and students in general consumed significantly less alcohol at social events than those who were opposed or had no opinion. This outcome supports the premise established by several theories of behavior change including the theory of planned behavior, which state that behavior is influenced less by knowledge than by attitude and intention.     

Teaching Statistics

This article compares grades earned by incoming MSW students in traditional classroom-based statistics courses and those taught using software-based content and no regular classes. Traditional-learning students earned high grades overall, regardless of prior undergraduate grade point average (GPA). Students in the electronic-learning course with high GPAs performed as well as students in the regular course. However, electronic-learning students with low GPAs earned lower course grades than students with high GPAs who took the same course and students in the traditional course, regardless of their GPA. Findings suggest students can learn statistics successfully in a programmed instruction/distance education course; however, some might need additional assistance or do better in a traditional format.     

Effectiveness of student assistance programs in Nebraska schools.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated whether Nebraska schools with Student Assistance Programs (SAP) are associated with reduced adolescent alcohol use and a higher level of academic achievement than students from schools without a SAP. METHODS: In 1992, the Toward a Drug Free Nebraska (TDFN) survey was administered to 3,454 students in grades seven to twelve at eighty-three Nebraska schools. A second survey, the TDFN "team activity report" collected from each school's team, the presence of a SAP (n = 34 schools) or absence of a SAP (n = 49 schools). Student responses for alcohol use and academic achievements were linked with the presence of a SAP through use of a school identification number on both surveys. RESULTS: Students from schools with a SAP reported a lower use of alcohol in the last thirty days, compared with students from schools without a SAP program (p < 0.05), and they also reported a significant difference in academic achievement (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: While this study used post hoc analysis of data, the results suggest lower alcohol use and higher academic achievement among students from SAP schools. Given SAPs' popularity, these trends suggest that further research should be conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of student assistance programs.     

Academically successful drug users: an oxymoron?

The present study examines substance use among academically successful students. The data were collected in two discrete anonymous surveys of 2,288 ninth-grade and 2,653 eleventh-grade California students, and 1,043 ninth-grade and 862 eleventh-grade students from a large suburban county. Over 70 percent of the academically successful students from both samples reported some type of drug use. These successful students were divided for comparison into three groups according to their involvement with drugs: abstainers, conventional users, and high-risk users. The analyses indicated that the negative association between drug use and academic achievement may be counter-balanced by mediating factors identified in the study. These factors included high "educational aspiration," "parent educational level," and "emotional stability."     

Concurrent alcohol and cigarette use among school-going adolescents in Korea

BackgroundConrurrent alcohol and tobacco use may increase the risk for substance abuse in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate concurrent alcohol and cigarette use and the co-occurrence risks of each substance in school-going adolescents in Korea.MethodsIn a cross-sectional nationally representative survey in 2016, 65,528 students (Mean age = 15.1 years, SE = 0.02) responded to a questionnaire that included measures of substance use and substance use exposure.ResultsIn all, 13.3% of the students were concurrent lifetime smokers and drinkers (19.3% among boys and 6.7% among girls), 25.5% lifetime alcohol users only (24.2% among boys and 26.9% among girls), 3.0% lifetime smokers only (4.7% among boys and 1.1% among girls) and 58.3% never smoked and never used alcohol (52.2% among boys and 47.8% among girls). All measures of more intensive smoking pattern and smoking exposure and more intensive drinking pattern and drinking exposures, respectively, were associated with consistently increased risk of lifetime alcohol use and lifetime smoking, respectively, compared to lifetime never smokers and abstainers. In multinomial logistic regression, compared to students who neither had used alcohol nor tobacco, concurrent lifetime smokers and drinkers were more likely to be male, mixed or boys school, higher school grade, lower paternal and maternal educational level, perceived lower socio-economic status, ever drug user, perceived stress above average, depressive mood, experience of violence victimization, and living in a rural area or medium sized city.ConclusionPrevention and treatment strategies should better incorporate the comorbidity of cigarette smoking and alcohol use in their intervention programmes.     

The Association of Survey Setting and Mode with Self-Reported Health Risk Behaviors among High School Students

This study examined whether the prevalence of self-reportedhealth risk behaviors among high school students varied by surveysetting (school versus home) and mode of administration (paperand pencil versus computer). Students in grades 9 and 11 wereassigned randomly to one of four conditions—school paper-and-pencilinstrument (PAPI), school computer-assisted self-interview (CASI),home PAPI, and home CASI. During the spring of 2004, 4,506 studentscompleted identically worded questionnaires based on the YouthRisk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Logistic regression analysescontrolling for sex, grade, and race/ethnicity revealed thatsetting was associated significantly with the reporting of 30of the 55 risk behaviors examined, and mode was associated significantlywith the reporting of 7 of the 55 behaviors. For all behaviorswith a significant setting main effect, the odds of reportingthe behavior were greater among students who completed questionnairesat school than among students who completed questionnaires athome. For all behaviors with a significant mode main effect,PAPI mode students had lower odds of reporting the behaviorthan CASI mode students. Because social measurement researchassumes that higher prevalence estimates are more valid thanlower estimates, methodological factors shown to increase estimates,such as setting and mode, should be considered when planningsurveys.     

Adolescents in residential treatment: The prevalence of ACEs,substance use and justice involvement

Abstract

Although associations between developmental trauma, juvenile justice involvement and youth substance use have been previously reported in the published literature, the interconnection among these three factors has not been adequately studied. This article describes the interconnection among these three factors and calls for greater attention to the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the diagnosis and treatment of youth who present with histories of substance use and/or offending behavior. Pilot data are presented that show high rates of self-reported trauma exposure, substance use history, justice involvement, and mental health problems in a sample of adolescents in residential treatment. The data point to the need for residential treatment centers to consider trauma histories in developing treatment plans for youth with current and prior substance use and offending behavior.     

A Perilous Paradox: The Contraceptive Behavior of College Students

Abstract

Currently, college students live in a social environment where contraceptive technology is highly effective, contraceptive information and methods are widely available, and premarital sexual activity is generally condoned. Paradoxically, data indicate that these students are poor contraceptive users, and that pregnancy and abortion rates among college students are surprisingly high. Since these social conditions should result in adequate contraceptive usage, other less obvious and overtly less rational factors must be influencing the behavior of this population.

The objectives of this article are to a) describe more fully the paradoxical nature of the problem of contraceptive use among college students, in part by a review of the research on collegiate contraceptive and sexual behavior; b) examine theories which have been offered to explain contraceptive behavior in college populations; and c) discuss implications of existing data and theories for the contraceptive education of young adults. This is a topic which has been relatively neglected as attention has been focused on the sexual and reproductive behavior of younger adolescents. It is also an area where professionals have failed to incorporate the implications of theory and research to the actual delivery of contraceptive health services.