Secondary school students (N=12,988) completed Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status and questionnaire assessing experience with cigarettes, inhalants, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. Discriminant analyses of substance use, across achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion identity statuses, yielded significant functions for…

Based on questionnaire responses, 139 ninth and twelfth graders were divided into low and high drug use groups. High use subjects viewed drug use as less harmful than did low use subjects and were less likely to view parents or the law as authorities concerning drug use. (BC)

This summary of the Fourth Annual Conference on Major Transitions in the Human Life Cycle contains a preface, introductory section on adolescence and young adulthood (ages 14 through 24 years), and the following presentations, complete with discussion text: (1) "Historical Treatment of the Age Group" (John Demos); (2) "Demographic Considerations"…

Uses a self-report instrument to examine the relationship of family structure to adolescent drug use and peer-related factors. Finds significant differences in drug use variables, with adolescents from intact families reporting less frequent drug use, fewer drug-using friends, and more perceptions of peer disapproval of drug use. (GCP)

Compared adolescents (N=32) in a chemical dependency program with a control group of high school seniors (N=60). Results indicated a higher percentage of the treatment group came from one-parent families with lower socioeconomic status. These two factors may be important precipitations of drug abuse among adolescents. (RC)

The similarity of factors which mediate psychosocial maturity and those which are associated with substance use or abuse suggests a reciprocal relationship between ego identity development and behavior. Because substance use has increased in our society, has become socially acceptable in some contexts, and has an effect on the perception of…

Research on adolescent substance use has focused on prevalence and incidence; however, contextual factors have been largely ignored. A survey of 155 adolescents from a Minneapolis suburb was conducted to assess contextual factors affecting adolescent substance use. Subjects reported their use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marihuana with respect to…

Jones and Hartmann (1988) investigated the relation between identity status and experimental substance use among adolescents in junior and senior high schools, identifying differences in substance use across four identity statuses for adolescents in general. This study was conducted to examine the generalizability of these differences across…

Examined the relation between part-time employment and adolescent development. Long work hours were associated with lower performance in school, greater psychological and somatic distress, drug and alcohol use, delinquency, and autonomy from parents. Workers do not have any advantages over nonworkers in self-reliance, work orientation, or…

As the adolescent matures, drinking situations occur outside of the home with friends. This period is characterized by drinking habits, patterns, and attitudes which are different from those of the parent population; the peer group and situational factors are significant influences on drinking behavior during this phase. (Author)

Examined benefits/risks of participation in five types of extracurricular activities (prosocial, team sports, school involvement, performing arts, academic clubs). Data for 1,259 adolescents were drawn from the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions. Found that prosocial involvement was linked to positive educational trajectories and low…

This teacher's manual for drug abuse education is one volume of a six volume curriculum for the secondary level, designed to provide a systematic, group-oriented approach to decision-making in areas crucial to adolescent development: drug (substance) use and abuse, sexuality and social relationships, juvenile law, work and people and government.…

This paper presents information from the ongoing research program, Monitoring the Future. The program is designed to: (1) monitor drug use and potential explanatory factors among American secondary school students, and other young adults; (2) distinguish which of three different kinds of change--maturational, historical, and/or cohort are…