Alcohol use, especially heavy or binge-drinking behavior, among college students continues to be an area in need of prevention and effective clinical intervention. With the myriad of known consequences that are associated with problematic and risky drinking, it is crucial that there are evidence-based programs available and offered to college…

Background: Compared to other racial groups, Hispanic/Latino(a) adolescents experience higher rates of alcohol (ab)use and alcohol-related problems. Evidence suggests there are gender differences in alcohol use patterns indicating the likelihood of gender differences in how various determinants influence alcohol use among the genders. Assessing…

This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Prevention Science entitled, "Innovations and Applications of Integrative Data Analysis (IDA) and Related Data Harmonization Procedures in Prevention Science." This special issue includes a collection of original papers from multiple disciplines that apply individual-level data…

The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between stress, weight-related health risk behaviors (e.g., eating behaviors, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, cigarette smoking, and binge drinking), and weight status using cross-sectional data on 2-year community college students enrolled in a randomized controlled weight…

Background: Despite prevention efforts of colleges and universities across the nation, there have been no substantial decreases in heavy episodic drinking among undergraduates over the past 2 decades. Purpose: This study provides an update on correlates of heavy episodic drinking for a recent cohort of undergraduate college students. Methods: A…

The nation's institutions of higher education continue to face serious problems with respect to student alcohol and other drug abuse and violence (AODV). For campus administrators, deciding how to respond effectively means understanding and taking into account both the complexity of these social problems and the individuality of each campus…

Work-related problems associated with employees who abuse alcohol and/or other drugs are briefly reviewed in this pamphlet to encourage employers to consider setting up a substance abuse program in their companies and businesses. The pamphlet then goes on to explain briefly each of five steps involved in developing a workplace substance abuse…

Sixteen papers from a conference on findings from prevention research are presented in this document. The papers are categorized into these six areas: (1) state and federal roles in prevention; (2) prevention research perspectives, including prevention research, school-based drug education research findings, and drug abuse prevention research…

Women's drinking patterns continue to change in society and on campus. Recent studies have indicated that heavy drinking has more than doubled among female college students in the last decade. The number of female drinkers closely resembles the number of male drinkers during the college years. Women who drink heavily face special social and…

A study asked 100 individuals with hearing impairments to complete alcohol and drug program pretreatment and posttreatment surveys. Following treatment, improvements were found in participants' attitudes, vocabulary related to substance abuse, and knowledge of issues relating to treatment. Ten recommendations for future treatment programs are…

Proposes a risk/protective theoretical perspective grounded in ecological and developmental contextualist theories. Principles extrapolated from the theory are illustrated with the success of Wisconsin Youth Futures, a campus/community partnership that has built 18 community coalitions to promote positive youth development and prevent behavior…

This booklet discusses obstacles to effective drug education programs and suggests components that should be included in order to ensure effective programs. The first section presents six questions to ask of one's drug education program, noting that a poorly conceived program can do more harm than good. The second section focuses on convincing…

The evaluations of substance abuse prevention programs have been criticized for being incomplete, for lacking a comprehensive approach, and for lacking a process evaluation component. Context factors have been found to have distinctive patterns among alcohol and other drug abusers. Among the variables of interest, family cohesion, family…

Little is known about preventing alcohol use by youth in rural America, and almost no rural alcohol prevention program has been evaluated. To address these deficiencies, this paper critically examines the issue of alcohol use by rural youth within a public health framework. The literature is reviewed to identify what is known about the prevalence…

This report describes an experimental program developed by the RAND Corporation to prevent or reduce the use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana by adolescents. Section 1 introduces Project ALERT and presents major findings and conclusions from a study which assessed the program's effects at several points over a period of 15 months in 30…