During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in societal interest in preventing disability and death in the United States by changing individual behaviors linked to the risk of contracting chronic diseases. This renewed interest in health promotion and disease prevention has not been without its critics. Some critics have accused proponents of life-style interventions of promoting a victim-blaming ideology by neglecting the importance of social influences on health and disease. This article proposes an ecological model for health promotion which focuses attention on both individual and social environmental factors as targets for health promotion interventions. It addresses the importance of interventions directed at changing interpersonal, organizational, community, and public policy, factors which support and maintain unhealthy behaviors. The model assumes that appropriate changes in the social environment will produce changes in individuals, and that the support of individuals in the population is essential for implementing environmental changes.

An Ecological Perspective on Health Promotion Programs

The authors suggest that the most promising route to effective strategies for the prevention of adolescent alcohol and other drug problems is through a risk-focused approach. This approach requires the identification of risk factors for drug abuse, identification of methods by which risk factors have been effectively addressed, and application of these methods to appropriate high-risk and general population samples in controlled studies. The authors review risk and protective factors for drug abuse, assess a number of approaches for drug abuse prevention potential with high-risk groups, and make recommendations for research and practice.

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Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention.

Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

This paper presents a general strain theory of crime and delinquency that is capable of overcoming the criticisms of previous strain theories. In the first section, strain theory is distinguished from social control and differential association/social learning theory. In the second section, the three major types of strain are described: (1) strain as the actual or anticipated failure to achieve positively valued goals, (2) strain as the actual or anticipated removal of positively valued stimuli, and (3) strain as the actual or anticipated presentation of negatively valued stimuli. In the third section, guidelines for the measurement of strain are presented. And in the fourth section, the major adaptations to strain are described, and thcwe factors influencing the choice of delinquent versus nondelinquent adaptations are discussed. After dominating deviance research in the 196Os, strain theory came under heavy attack in the 1970s (Bernard, 1984; Cole, 1975), with several prominent researchers suggesting that the theory be abandoned (Hirschi, 1969; Kornhauser, 1978). Strain theory has survived those attacks, but its influence is much diminished (see Agnew, 1985a; Bernard, 1984; Farnworth and Leiber, 1989). In particular, variables derived from strain theory now play a very limited role in explanations of crime/delinquency. Several recent causal models of delinquency, in fact, either entirely exchde strain variables or assign them a small role (e.g., Elliott et al., 1985; Johnson, 1979; Massey and Krohn, 1986; Thornberry, 1987; Tonry et al., 1991). Causal models of crime/delinquency are dominated, instead, by variables derived from differential association/social learning theory and social control theory. This paper argues that strain theory has a central role to play in explanations of crime/delinquency, but that the theory has to be substantially revised to play this role. Most empirical studies of strain theory continue to rely on the strain models developed by Merton (1938), A. Cohen (1955), and Cloward and Ohlin (1960). In recent years, however, a wealth of research in several fields has questioned certain of the assumptions underlying those theories and pointed to new directions for the development of strain theory. Most notable in this area is the research on stress in medical sociology and psychology, on equity/justice in social psychology, and on aggression in psychology-particularly recent versions of frustration-aggression and social

Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency

▪ Abstract This paper assesses and synthesizes the cumulative results of a new “neighborhood-effects” literature that examines social processes related to problem behaviors and health-related outcomes. Our review identified over 40 relevant studies published in peer-reviewed journals from the mid-1990s to 2001, the take-off point for an increasing level of interest in neighborhood effects. Moving beyond traditional characteristics such as concentrated poverty, we evaluate the salience of social-interactional and institutional mechanisms hypothesized to account for neighborhood-level variations in a variety of phenomena (e.g., delinquency, violence, depression, high-risk behavior), especially among adolescents. We highlight neighborhood ties, social control, mutual trust, institutional resources, disorder, and routine activity patterns. We also discuss a set of thorny methodological problems that plague the study of neighborhood effects, with special attention to selection bias. We conclude with promising ...

ASSESSING "NEIGHBORHOOD EFFECTS": Social Processes and New Directions in Research

Scope of the Problem and the Nature of Drug Use Consequences Theories of Drug Use Consequences Study Sample and Design Constructs and Measures Methodological Considerations and Analytic Approach The Reciprocal Influence of Drug Use on Social Conformity An Example of Our Analytic Method Impact on Family Formation and Stability Impact on Criminality and Deviant Behavior Impact on Sexual Behavior and Involvement Impact on Educational Pursuits Impact on Livelihood Pursuits Impact on Mental Health Impact on Social Integration Impact of Specific Drugs in a Large Integrated Model Integration and Conclusions

Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Adults

We examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations between risk factors and substance use for a sample of high school students. Ten risk factors were defined that assessed numerous important personal and social areas of life. These factors were found to be associated with ever using, frequency of use, and heavy use of cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, and hard drugs. Few effects were noted for nonprescription medication. No sex differences were evident for number of risk factors. Finally, the number of different risk factors was predictive of increases in use of all types of substances over a one-year period, after controlling for initial level of use.

Risk factors for drug use among adolescents: concurrent and longitudinal analyses.

A theoretical model of adolescent behavior is examined separately for males and females (N = 722). The model hypothesizes that depression and self-derogation may lead to a lack of purpose in life, which, in turn, may lead to suicide ideation and substance use. Confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation procedures were used to examine the model, using Bentler's (1984) EQS computer program, which is available from BMDP. For both the men and women, the model adequately accounted for the data although there were some important differences between the sexes. In response to psychic discomfort (i.e., Depression and Self-derogation), men are more apt to turn to drugs and alcohol, whereas women consider suicide. Conversely, the situation changes in response to feelings of meaninglessness or a lack of purpose in life. Here, the females appear to turn to substance use, whereas the males react with thoughts of suicide.

Depression, self-derogation, substance use, and suicide ideation: lack of purpose in life as a mediational factor

Impact of adolescent drug use and social support on problems of young adults: a longitudinal study

During the past several years, there has been a renewed national concern about drug abuse, culminating in the current "war on drugs." In this review, we emphasize that even though child or teenage drug use is an individual behavior, it is embedded in a sociocultural context that strongly determines its character and manifestations. Our focus is on psychoactive substances both licit (cigarettes and alcohol) and illicit (e.g., cannabis and cocaine). We feel that it is critical to draw a distinction between use and abuse of drugs and to do so from a multidimensional perspective that includes aspects of the stimulus (drug), organism (individual), response, and consequences. Our selective review of substance use and abuse among children and adolescents covers epidemiology (patterns and extent of drug use), etiology (what generates substance use), prevention (how to limit drug use), treatment (interventions with drug users), and consequences (effects and outcomes of youthful drug use).

Michael D. Newcomb

Papers

Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use: Impact on the Lives of Young Adults

Risk factors for drug use among adolescents: concurrent and longitudinal analyses.

Depression, self-derogation, substance use, and suicide ideation: lack of purpose in life as a mediational factor

Impact of adolescent drug use and social support on problems of young adults: a longitudinal study

Substance use and abuse among children and teenagers.