Little is known about the location and consistency of sleeping arrangements among youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) and how this is linked to their well-being. This study addresses this gap using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) via short message service (SMS) surveying with 150 YEH over 30 days, to examine how various sleeping…

This article examines why Southeast Asian American adolescents and emerging adults in two urban settings prefer to use "blunts," or hollowed-out cigars filled with marijuana, over other methods of drug intake. Rationales for preferring blunts were both instrumental and social. Blunts allowed users to more easily share marijuana, the preferred drug…

This document gives results of research on alcohol use by young Americans from the 1983 National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth, a survey of a large, nationally representative sample supplemented by samples of blacks, Hispanics, and economically disadvantaged non-black, non-Hispanic youth and covering the entire range of…

The age at which young people expected the initiation of certain sexual practices was studied with 522 15- and 16-year olds. There was progression in modal ages indicated from least intimate to more intimate behaviors. There was also a strong relationship between sexual timetables and timetables for autonomy and use of drugs such as alcohol. (SLD)

Studied relationship between gender and delinquency among inner-city adolescents (n=64) in court diversion program. Males were more likely to be referred for violations of law, to have been arrested, and to have engaged in aggressive offenses/selling drugs. Females were more likely to be referred because of status offenses. Gang membership had…

Examined the nonmedical utilization rates of selected substances among an adolescent population of students (N=2,036). Analysis of psychosocial variables indicated that age at first use; frequency of use of marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes; and amount of available spending money were significant predictors of drug use. (LLL)

Patterns of drug use for 847 adolescents from four different ethnic backgrounds (Blacks, Asians, Whites, and Hispanics) were examined over a five-year period. In addition to nonusers, only one large single substance use group emerged, alcohol users. Racial differences are discussed. Comparing patterns of substance use at three points in time,…

Examined adolescents' current use of substances and their interactions with peers and significant adults. Users of various substances associated with other individuals who used the same substances. Adolescent drug users do not appear to form subcultures delineated from nonuser subcultures along interaction dimensions other than that of drug use.…

Examined drug use patterns among incarcerated African-American juvenile delinquents (n=248). Found that 90 percent of participants had used some illicit mood altering substance, between 30 percent and 46 percent reported daily use, and average age at initial use was approximately 12 years. Alcohol use tended to precede by about five months use of…

Examined relationship between peer interactions and similarity in drug use among friends. Findings from large sample of secondary school students (n=113,289) indicated that youth who used specific drugs in last 30 days almost invariably had friends who used same drugs but was considerably less likely to have friends who used other drugs or no…

Assessed relationship between behavioral intention to use drugs and self-reported drug use in 9,403 seventh- through twelfth-grade students in five types of schools in Pennsylvania. Subjects completed a questionnaire assessing a variety of behaviors. Across all drugs, and within all samples, intention to use drugs was consistently related to…

The "stepping-stone" theory of progression into drug use is examined, based on the alcohol and other drug use of over 27,000 seventh- through eighth-grade students in New York State. The data show that students do not use illicit drugs unless they also use alcohol. (Author/LMO)

Compares an adolescent and a parental group with regard to standardized measures of alcohol consumption in order to test the hypothesis that drinking patterns are not unique to the adolescent society but rather exemplify the models in the adult community. Independent samples of students and adults were found to be very similar in patterns of…

Assessed the risk, protective, alcohol and other drug (AOD) knowledge and attitudes, and AOD behavior of 1,797 high-risk youth ages 12 to 19. Results from the survey suggest that the more protective the behavior, the greater the AOD knowledge and positive attitude, and the lower the risk of AOD behavior. (SLD)

Problem behavior theory predicts that norm-violating attitudes and activities reflect syndrome. Findings from community sample revealed that criminal behavior was more determined by general deviance in adulthood than in young adulthood, whereas sexual involvement became less determined by common factors between these times. Drug use and low social…