According to the CDC, young people, aged 15-24 years, share the greatest risk of new sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the negative impact of alcohol and drug use. The purpose of this quantitative study, based on the theory of social-psychological problem-behavior, was to analyze the 2013 YRBSS secondary data and document if a relationship existed between race/ethnicity and youth sexual behavior, alcohol consumption, and drug use for the 13,583 survey participants. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Chi-Square were conducted to answer the research questions. Results indicated that American Indian/Alaskan Natives were most likely to report first sexual activity before 11 years old (7.5%), while Asians were most likely to report never having sex (76.6%). Race/ethnicity also impacted all other variables, such as drugs, with a mixture of results. Hispanic/Latinos were most likely to report higher alcohol consumption (15.12%) compared to Multiple Hispanic (5.12%), while, Multiple Non-Hispanic were more likely to report use of drugs before sexual activity (9.7%) compared to Hispanic Latinos (7.99%). Social change implication of the study called for developed and effective sustainable interventions to help youth with behavior, and it required full integration of race/ethnicity as prerequisites in alleviation strategy. Dissemination plans involved use of public health campaigns, school workshops, and churches to fight the negative impact on youth.

The present study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental characteristics of the association between mental health and substance use. N=1182 adolescents aged between 11 and 20 years were recruited from schools in Australia. Participants completed the Youth Self Report (YSR) (Achenbach, 1991a) and reported on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, their social ability, their motivation for using substances, their ability to regulate emotion, and the influences of their parents and peers on their substance use. N=561 of time one participants were retained for testing one year later to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from mental health at time one. Results indicated a clear and consistent cross-sectional association between externalising scores on the YSR and use of the three substances, regardless of gender. The relation between internalising scores and substance use was non-significant. When the relation between externalising scores and substance use was assessed for mediation, only the influence of parents and peers was found to be significant. A cross-sectional structural model developed to account for this association was demonstrated to be invariant across the three substances of interest, and across gender, but not age category. There was no evidence that social skills, emotion regulation, or substance use motives, had roles in mediating the relationship between mental health and substance use. A model was developed to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from externalising scores at time one. Results showed that externalising scores predicted increases in alcohol use via parent and peer attitudes. Thus, externalising disposition, in the context of a facilitative social environment, was predictive of an increase in alcohol use over time. Structural models developed to account for the predictive relation between externalising scores and use of cigarettes and marijuana proved unstable and could not be tested. Substance use at time one was not predictive of externalising scores at time two. The results of the present research are discussed in relation to their potential to inform the developmental substance use literature, and efforts directed against the development of substance use problems. Limitations of the present research are noted.

Relapse is a common occurrence in the treatment of adolescent substance abuse. It is estimated that one out of three adolescents will relapse after treatment termination. Although much attention has been given to family factors which influence an adolescent's use and abuse of drugs, this same vigorous attention has not been given to determining if family factors play a role in an adolescent resuming drug use after treatment termination. It has been theorized that the same family factors which increase the risk of an adolescent to use and abuse drugs also can help in gaining an understanding of why relapse occurs. Three prominent theories used to explain family factors associated with drug use/abuse and relapse are genetic and social learning theories, and family dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to investigate if familial factors, as proposed from the theories presented, were predictive of relapse. The sample in this study consisted of 31 adolescents who entered drug treatment between 1986 and 1988. Follow-up data of the adolescent's pattern of drug use since treatment discharge were collected through telephone interviews with the parent or guardian of the adolescent one and a half to nineteen months after treatment. The family information used in this study was collected through self-report questionnaires given to the adolescent at time of treatment. Specific family variables used in this study were: parental and sibling substance abuse history, number of parents in residence, past experience of physical and/or sexual abuse, and history of running away from home. Regression analyses were used to assess if these family variables were associated with relapse. Results of the data analyses found partial support for genetic and social learning theories of relapse, as well as relapse from a family dysfunction perspective. Findings indicated that adolescents who lived with only one parent or neither parent in comparison to those who lived with both parents, those who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse, and those who perceived their father as not having a history of substance abuse were more at risk to relapse. Findings further indicated a cross-gender effect in that male adolescents who reported mother as having a substance abuse history were more likely to relapse. This same finding was not found for females in this study. The results indicate that given specific family dynamics, a sub-population of adolescents may be targeted on entrance to treatment to be at greater risk to relapse. / Graduation date: 1991

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

An Attitude Survey consisting of 70 variables was administered to 1007 Indiana high school students. This sample came from public, parochial, and private schools. The survey was designed to investigate the backgrounds, attitudes, and personality characteristics of the high school drug user.Significant correlates of high school drug use were: sex, age, and grade in school, mother working outside the home, lack of closeness to family members, and parental drinking, smoking, and medicating habits. Users tended to identify strongly with their peers and depend upon them. They generally exhibited a negative attitude toward school and authority, a pessimistic assessment of life in general and of their own futures, and a positive evaluation of the effects of drugs.The high school drug user’s personality was marked by: depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, self-seeking, and a lack of religiosity. They also combined multiple personal worries and fears with few effective coping mechanisms.

The thesis was designed to measure patterns of drug use among undergraduate college students and to examine possible relationships between drug use and six personality traits. An anonymous questionnaire was administered by participating Eta Sigma Gamma faculty advisers and student members to 1,552 undergraduate college students enrolled in introductory health education courses at 11 universities. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and a chi-square analysis provided the means for evaluating the data.The Null hypotheses tested were: (1) drug use is independent of sex, age, race, religious affiliation, religiosity, residence, class, college major, and cumulative grade point average; and (2) drug use is independent of these six personality traits: purposelessness, anomie, insecurity, fatalistic thinking, and belief in intervention by God.The first Null hypothesis was rejected for all variables in that differences were statistically significant at the .05 level. The second Null hypothesis was rejected except for the personality trait of pessimism. All of the other personality scales indicated that the results were statistically significant at the .05 level.

The present study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal developmental characteristics of the association between mental health and substance use. N=1182 adolescents aged between 11 and 20 years were recruited from schools in Australia. Participants completed the Youth Self Report (YSR) (Achenbach, 1991a) and reported on their use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, their social ability, their motivation for using substances, their ability to regulate emotion, and the influences of their parents and peers on their substance use. N=561 of time one participants were retained for testing one year later to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from mental health at time one. Results indicated a clear and consistent cross-sectional association between externalising scores on the YSR and use of the three substances, regardless of gender. The relation between internalising scores and substance use was non-significant. When the relation between externalising scores and substance use was assessed for mediation, only the influence of parents and peers was found to be significant. A cross-sectional structural model developed to account for this association was demonstrated to be invariant across the three substances of interest, and across gender, but not age category. There was no evidence that social skills, emotion regulation, or substance use motives, had roles in mediating the relationship between mental health and substance use. A model was developed to assess the potential to predict substance use at time two from externalising scores at time one. Results showed that externalising scores predicted increases in alcohol use via parent and peer attitudes. Thus, externalising disposition, in the context of a facilitative social environment, was predictive of an increase in alcohol use over time. Structural models developed to account for the predictive relation between externalising scores and use of cigarettes and marijuana proved unstable and could not be tested. Substance use at time one was not predictive of externalising scores at time two. The results of the present research are discussed in relation to their potential to inform the developmental substance use literature, and efforts directed against the development of substance use problems. Limitations of the present research are noted.