Showing papers in "Journal of Drug Education in 1994"

Harm Reduction: An Emerging New Paradigm for Drug Education.

Abstract: Harm reduction is a new paradigm now emerging in the field of drug education. This strategy recognizes that people always have and always will use drugs and, therefore, attempts to minimize the potential hazards associated with drug use rather than the use itself. The rationale for a harm reduction strategy is presented, followed by an example of the kind of needs assessment which may be needed for planning a harm reduction strategy.

The relationship between drug and alcohol use and peer group associations of college freshmen as they transition from high school.

Abstract: College freshmen responded to a drug and alcohol questionnaire. For drugs other than alcohol and marijuana, the best predictor of drug use at the beginning of college is drug use during a typical m...

A Comprehensive Multi-Media Program to Prevent Smoking among Black Students

Abstract: Much research has been done in developing and implementing smoking prevention programs; however, few studies have focused on urban Black populations. In November of 1989, a comprehensive prevention program was implemented to decrease the incidence of new smokers within the adolescent population in a Black community. The program combined a school-based curriculum with a comprehensive media intervention. All components of the program were financed by business leaders from the targeted community. There were two experimental conditions: one group participated in a school-based intervention and were prompted to participate in a multi-media intervention and the other group had access to the multi-media intervention; however, they were not prompted to participate. A key finding was that the rate of smoking decreased for all children involved in the intervention. The authors present a model that can be employed to prevent other high-risk behaviors within the Black population.

A Substance Use Profile of Delinquent and Homeless Youths

Abstract: The overall health status of delinquent and homeless youths is of increasing concern. These high-risk youth populations have a variety of health problems, including relatively high levels of substance abuse. This study provides empirical data on the substance use behaviors of a sample of delinquent and homeless youths in San Francisco, California. The data, secured within the context of medical examinations, indicate that both samples use tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs at higher rates than the general adolescent population. The study concludes that drug education and prevention programs must be tailored to fit the needs and lifestyles of these two populations, and that the programs should be provided within the broader context of adolescent health care.

Consequences of adolescent drug use and personality factors on adult drug use

Abstract: This study examined the stability of adolescent drug use into young adulthood and explored the possible influence of personality on adolescent and adult drug use. Participants in this longitudinal study (N = 640) completed questionnaires which assessed multiple indicators for latent constructs of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and hard drugs, and also for the personality constructs of Socialization. In addition, the effects of obedience and extraversion were examined. Results showed that a general drug use factor in adolescence significantly predicted young adult drug use. A particular effect of adolescent obedience on adult drug use was noted. Within adolescence, obedience, extraversion, and the construct of Socialization were significant predictors of drug use. Early onset of smoking predicted adolescent drug use. The implications of these findings for early drug use education and intervention are discussed. Additional analysis explored the possibility of treating obedience as another indicator of Socialization. This model could not provide as good a fit as the original model. The measure of obedience acted as a better predictor of drug use than an overall factor of Socialization. Gender differences are discussed.

Increasing teacher receptivity toward use of tobacco prevention education programs.

Abstract: An empirical examination of teacher receptivity to and practice of tobacco prevention education provides the foundation for comprehensive staff development to increase diffusion of drug prevention education curricula. Randomly-selected first grade Texas teachers (n = 313) were asked to complete a questionnaire during the first and second years of the Smoke-Free Class of 2000 (SFC2000) project. Initially 64 percent of recipients used materials. However, two of every five first-year users did not maintain use one year later, and many who intended use never implemented. Principal components analysis of fourteen items pertaining to receptivity resulted in four scales with acceptable reliability scores: general receptivity to tobacco prevention education, personal support for teaching tobacco prevention education, personal involvement, and school involvement in tobacco prevention. Scales were predictive of initial and continued use and provide a teacher receptivity measure to guide staff development.

Risk, protection, and vulnerability to adolescent drug use: latent-variable models of three age groups

Abstract: Much research has focused on the relationships between risk factors and adolescent drug use (DU). Less is known regarding the role of protective factors and how they may inoculate youth from initiating or escalating their DU. Using latent-variable modeling and a risk factor method, we examined the cross-sectional role of risk and protective factors in predicting teenage DU for three age groups, separately by gender. Data are from a biannual statewide survey of California students. A Vulnerability latent construct was reflected in three unit-weighted indexes: risk for initiation to DU, risk for problem DU, and protection from DU. A Polydrug Use construct was reflected in eight measures of alcohol and drug use. Structural equation models revealed that for all age/gender groups, Vulnerability was strongly related to Polydrug Use as well as having specific effects on the DU measures. Effects between Vulnerability and DU were more numerous for seventh and eleventh grade than ninth grade students. Ninth grade females had the fewest effects overall. Number of specific effects between protection and DU remained stable with increasing age. Results underscore two important foci for prevention: 1) the importance of considering age-related developmental phenomena in the overall context of DU prevention; and 2) that programs continue to emphasize risk reduction, while simultaneously developing and reinforcing protective agents.

The Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse among Childbearing-Age Women: A Review of the Literature:

Abstract: The Social Stress Model of Substance Abuse has been derived from numerous psychosocial theories and models. This model suggests that the likelihood of an individual engaging in drug abuse is influenced by the stress level and the extent to which it is offset by stress modifiers such as social networks, social competence and resources. This article synthesizes current empirical evidence for this model. Thirteen primary research studies of women are synthesized and described, with special attention to the four key constructs inherent in the model: stress, social networks, social competencies, and resources. Consistencies and inconsistencies in the findings, a critique of key methodological issues, implications for future research, and implications for clinical policy and practice are provided.

Polydrug Use and Self Control among Men and Women in Prisons.

Abstract: This article describes research conducted to examine the patterns of alcohol and drug use and self concepts of incarcerated adult offenders in relation to age, gender, and ethnicity in a western state. The purpose of this research was to estimate the extent and variety of alcohol and drug use in the prison population and design a data collection instrument. Individual interviews with every newly admitted sentenced felon (N = 157 men and 39 women) were conducted. Inmates reported nearly universal alcohol use and marijuana use and extensive use of cocaine, crack, heroin, crystal methamphetamine (ice) and using various other schedule drugs, usually in combination with alcohol and other drugs. The problem for the interviewers was not how to elicit admissions of drug use but how to categorize the large number of combinations. Polydrug use, often in combination with alcohol, is the rule, not the exception. Starting, switching and quitting, and combining or substituting drugs is reported by the vast majority of inmates. While patterns varied, it was difficult to discern a special class of drug addicts among the inmates. Our findings suggest that large percentages of prison inmates are frequent substance abusers, perceive problems from use, but are often not interested in drug treatment in prison. Many inmates who by their own reports seem appropriate for alcohol or drug treatment do not seek treatment. This is not influenced by the extent of drug use or experience with previous treatment. Female prisoners seem to be more often and more extensively involved in addicting drugs than male prisoners. This is particularly problematic because there are very few specialized treatment or training programs for women offenders. Since drug use is very widespread, urine monitoring is increasing and continued criminalization of all drugs except alcohol enjoys wide support, correctional agencies must search to develop effective and affordable strategies for dealing with drug use.

Drugs and guns among inner-city high school students.

Abstract: Despite public and governmental concern about the issue, little has occurred in the way of a systematic assessment of the gun-possession profiles of young persons involved in the use and distribution of drugs. This article reports the results of an analysis of survey data collected from male, inner-city high school students. The data pertain to firearms possession and carrying, use of heroin, cocaine, and crack, the sale of drugs, and commission of crimes with weapons. The findings offer no evidence of a progressive, linear relationship between level of drug use and gun possession (including number of guns owned and the routine carrying of guns). However, disregarding level of drug use, when non-users were compared with users, and "heavy" users were compared with those who did not use drugs "heavily," significant differences in involvement in gun possession did appear. As well, when we separated students who did not sell drugs from those who did, the latter generally exhibited higher involvement in gun possession. Finally, drug sellers who also committed crimes with weapons exceeded drug sellers who did not in involvement in some, but not all, types of gun possession.

Some Factors Associated with Substance Abuse among Secondary School Students in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract: This study attempts to investigate factors associated with involvement in substance abuse in Trinidad and Tobago, through a survey of 1603 secondary school students, aged fourteen to eighteen years. Analysis of the data using the Chi-square test indicates a significant association (p < .001) between involvement in substance abuse and the following factors: grades at school, importance of religious involvement, amount of spending money obtained, confidence placed in parents/peers, parental involvement in alcohol consumption and educational expectations. Generally, the study indicates that youth less committed to traditional values, show a greater tendency to be involved in substance abuse. Involvement also appears to be associated with low self esteem and low educational expectations.

Antecedents of Substance Use among Mexican American School-Age Children:

Abstract: This article describes a study designed to examine the association of demographic, psychological, and environmental characteristics of a sample of low socioeconomic status, Mexican American students in elementary and middle school and their reported use of nine substances.Students in grades four, five, and six (N = 2295; males 52% and females 48%) located in a metropolitan school district in South Texas were surveyed in order to ascertain information pertaining to the initiation and/or ongoing use of substances. Regression analyses were employed to determine the relative contribution of variables measured to lifetime use of both minor and major substances. Results indicate that a specific combination of variables were predictive of both minor and major substance use for the subjects surveyed. Implications for future research and substance intervention are included.

Short-term substance abuse prevention in jail: a cognitive behavioral approach.

Abstract: This article describes a cognitive-behavioral program for substance abusers which was first implemented in the Baltimore City Jail in 1987. Similar but separate programs are provided for male and f...

Characteristics of Abstinent Substance Abusers Who First Sought Treatment in Adolescence

Abstract: A survey was given to 141 male and female substance abusers who had eleven or more months of continuous abstinence and first sought treatment in adolescence in an attempt to add to the limited knowledge of known variables associated with successful adolescent response to clinical and community-based treatment. Results were used to create a composite of successfully abstinent adolescents. Generally, parental alcoholism and most drug use patterns were not related to the number of relapses or length of sobriety. Most of the respondents entered twelve-step programs via treatment. The only two variables that were significantly correlated with the dependent measures of more relapses and less overall sobriety were getting high for the first time at a younger age and polydrug abuse. There were about five times more adoptees represented in this sample than would be statistically expected. Implications for adolescent substance abuse diagnosis and prognosis are discussed.

Messages Discriminated from the Media about Illicit Drugs

Abstract: The electronic media have been an instrumental tool in the most recent efforts to address the issue of illicit drug abuse in the United States. Messages about illicit drugs appear in three places in the media: advertising content, news content, and entertainment content. Many studies have documented the amount and types of messages that appear on the electronic media, but few have asked the audience how they interpret these messages. The purpose of this study is to investigate how much and what type of information college students receive from the media about drugs. Interviews were conducted with 228 students using the message discrimination protocol. The messages were then content analyzed into theme areas. Results indicate the majority of messages discriminated from advertising content were fear appeals; that the majority of messages discriminated from news content documented the enforcement efforts in the war on drugs; and that messages about drugs in entertainment content were more likely to provide c...

Drug abuse prevention curricula in public and private schools in Indiana

Abstract: Recent research on drug education has focused on public schools. This study compares public school drug education programs with such efforts in private schools in one midwestern state. All schools in the state were asked to respond to a survey on curricula and training. This study reports on the types of prevention curricula used and at what grades, as well as the number of schools with trained staff. For almost every grade a higher percentage of public schools was found to be implementing drug education programs than private schools. This was manifested in public schools developing their own programs and/or purchasing commercially available drug curricula. Although an equal number of private and public schools have trained staff, less than half of all schools report a trained staff at each grade level. Directions for future research based on these results are suggested.

Can educational programs affect teenage drinking? A multivariate perspective.

Abstract: Of various means to prevent alcohol-related problems among adolescents, school-based educational approaches are very prevalent. The potential effectiveness of such programs will be limited, however, if teenage drinking is determined by factors beyond the influence of school-based interventions, such as demographic characteristics or quality of family environment. On the other hand, educational programs would have greater potential efficacy if teenage drinking is influenced mainly by factors more amenable to change, such as characteristics of individual adolescents like their alcohol expectancies or social reasoning. We evaluated in this study whether drinking among high school students was related more to factors “unchangeable” versus “changeable” by school-based intervention. We found that drinking varied with different types of “unchangeable” and “changeable” factors for male and female students. Implications for alcohol education programs are discussed.

Network Commercials Promote Legal Drugs: Outnumber Anti-Drug PSA's 45-to-1:

Abstract: During the week of September 16 to 22, 1990, commercials promoting drugs and alcohol outnumbered the networks' news stories, documentaries, and PSA's about illegal drugs by a ratio of almost 39-to-1. If you consider the PSA's alone, the commercials promoting drugs and alcohol outnumbered them by a ratio of almost 45-to-1.

«Drugs and aids: reaching for help»: a videotape on aids and drug abuse prevention for criminal justice populations

Abstract: This article describes the development of a videotape targeted at persons under supervision of the criminal justice system. The videotape seeks to encourage those who use illicit drugs to enter drug treatment and to motivate those at risk for exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to alter behaviors that may transmit infection.The criminal justice system presents an important opportunity to deliver such messages, particularly to a large population of persons briefly detained in a jail or lockup and released without subsequent incarceration. Evidence suggests that, even in this audience, knowledge of how to prevent exposure to HIV is widespread, yet those at risk often fail to take appropriate precautions: motivating behavior change demands more than imparting information.In order to shape this videotape, we analyzed the target audience and developed a drama-based approach that applies the framework of social learning theory, the health belief model, and principles of social marketing. This article...

Alcohol Policies and Free to Be Foolish: An Analysis of College Students

Abstract: A convenience sample of 472 undergraduate students from a large public university in the Midwest was surveyed with regard to their views on consumption of alcohol as a personal privilege and related policies on alcohol use. The sample of predominantly white students was divided between 239 libertarians and 192 supporters of collective responsibility. Compared with their collective peers, the libertarian students were younger, heavier consumers of alcohol, and more likely to be male. The libertarian students were opposed to external sanctions on drinking behavior regardless of source of authority. Intervention programs such as server training implemented by the students themselves were, however, supported by both groups. The potential for achieving wider low risk alcohol use through server training programs is considered in the context of campus and campus town life. Although promotion of such programs has potential for positive change, administrators must recognize the potency of the world view of "free to be foolish" and broader external forces when seeking a comprehensive needs-based approach to program planning.

Identifying the outcomes of prevention: results of a longitudinal study in a small city school district

Abstract: This article reports on the results of three successive surveys of fifth through twelfth grade students conducted over a five year period, 1986 through 1991 During the time covered by the surveys, these adolescents were exposed to an eclectic variety of both school and community-based prevention and intervention programs The surveys indicate that younger students have increasingly delayed their entry into use of alcohol and other drugs; older students also show some declines in use, comparable to those reported nationally, but heavy, regular use of both marijuana and alcohol persists as well among a substantial minority The article concludes with consideration of the perceived effectiveness of the community's prevention efforts, the justifications for these judgments, and the implications of these for further programming efforts

Process evaluation of Nebraska's Team Training Project.

Abstract: Background. A process evaluation of the Nebraska Drug Free School/Community Residential Team Training Project is described. This training project utilizes a «system approach» in the formation and implementation of localized strategic (action) plans targeting alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse prevention. Methods. In June of 1990, training participants completed a pre-post survey in conjunction with the four-day training. The majority of the participants (51.2%) were teachers, 19.2 percent were parents, 13.6 percent administrators, and 9.6 percent were counselors. Results. Although the overall attitudes of the participants (N = 125) were positive initially, they became even more so by the end of the training (N = 121). Prior to training participants felt they could have a significant impact on their local AOD abuse problem, and this attitude became more positive by the completion of training (p < 0.05). Conclusions. The Nebraska team training process immerses team members in an active planning process allowing teams to develop a plan of action for their school and community. During this process, participants experience a positive growth in attitudes reflecting not only the training experience itself, but even more importantly their ability to meaningfully affect AOD abuse and related destructive behaviors in their homes, schools, and community

Drug attitude factors: comparisons of samples from 1985 and 1992.

Abstract: The Stanislaus Chemical Effects Survey, which contains the names of twenty-four substances and asks subjects to rate the relative harm and benefit of each to society, was given to male and female undergraduates in 1985 and 1992. Factor analysis of the responses from each sample were done separately and then a comparison was made of the resulting factors. Fifteen of the twenty-four drugs retained their approximate same position in the structure of drug attitudes between the two samples. Attitudes about three substances, tobacco, oral contraceptives, and PCP, notably appeared to have undergone significant shifts. Discriminant analysis revealed significant differences between the two samples, between males and females regardless of year, and an interaction between year and gender. Findings suggest that attitudes remain conservative about drugs in general and that public policies may be contributing to the shifts in attitudes seen.

Socio-demographic profile of substance users seeking treatment.

Abstract: This study was conducted to obtain a personality profile and a descriptive analysis of a typical substance user who is presently enrolled in a treatment center and is receiving professional help for his or her substance use at one of four participating treatment centers in a southwestern city in the United States. According to the findings, a typical substance abuser is a thirty-one year old male who is third born and has parents who are more frequently non-professional. Most respondents became involved with substance use because of peer influence and reported feeling bored/unhappy. First substance use experiences were more frequently with marijuana, although at the time of enrollment at the treatment center, alcohol, cocaine/crack, heroine, marijuana, and a combination of substances were typically used. When ranking the major problems they perceive having in their lives, respondents reported most frequently, substance use and being bored/unhappy in life. When assessing respondent's family type, a differe...

AIDS and Intravenous Drug Use: A Growing Menace

Abstract: The AIDS virus is transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids between an infected person and an uninfected person, and the sharing of needles by IV drug users has been one of the primary means of transmission. The incidence of infection by this method has increased in the world, and in the inner cities of the United States has been a particular problem. Infected drug users also transmit the disease to their sexual partners and to their unborn children. Educational efforts have been directed at changing the behavior of drug users to reduce their sharing of needles, and some cities have tried handing out free needles. Such efforts, of course, run counter to the admonition not to use drugs at all, but health professionals believe changing behavior is the most important way of attacking the disease. While transmission of the HIV virus through IV drug abuse remains a significant problem, there is evidence that the educational efforts have been working and that, in some areas at least, behaviors have been changed and the risk has been reduced.