Assessing sexuality attitudes and behaviors and correlates of alcohol and drugs.

The association between sexual abstinence and use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana was examined in data from questionnaires completed by 874 students in Grades 6 through 8 at six urban schools. These students participated in a program that implemented and evaluated an educational program on abstinence sexuality. It focused on raising self-esteem, improving communication skills, and learning to set life goals. The evaluation instrument contained items assessing sexuality and attitudes toward behaviors related to drug use. Use of each drug (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) was significantly (p < .00001) and positively associated with self-report of having experienced sexual intercourse and expectation of having intercourse during the next year.

Sexuality attitudes and behaviors of self-described very religious urban students in middle school.

Data from a survey of 869 students aged 11 to 15 years and attending six urban middle schools were analyzed to identify differences in sex attitudes and behaviors between self-reported very religious students and their less religious peers. The two groups were demographically similar. They differed on only two attitude items, one suggesting that intercourse was a normal part of teenage dating and the other suggesting intercourse was alright if the two people were in love. The groups did not differ in their estimation of their peers' sexual activity or attitude or in terms of their own intercourse behavior or future intentions.

Homosexual parents and questions of character: a response to Cameron and Cameron.

Cameron and Cameron introduced appellate court decisions as a new data source for content analyses. In using this source they have shown praiseworthy clarity in describing their methods. Their report, however, appears to show an over-weaning bias against homosexuals which is the fatal flaw of this study.

Chronic drinking, binge drinking, and drunk driving II.

Data from the Rhode Island Behavioral Risk Factor Survey on self-reported alcohol consumption and drunk driving were examined. Driving while intoxicated was significantly associated with both binge drinking and chronic drinking, but the measures of drinking were not significantly associated.

A survey of adult recreational drug use via the World Wide Web: the DRUGNET study.

DRUGNET was a cross-sectional survey of adult recreational drug users (i.e., not abusers) via the World Wide Web of the Internet. The purpose of this survey was to provide a unique, broad description of nondeviant adult recreational drug users. The survey instrument had four divisions: demographic and lifestyle indices, drug use history, legal history and attitudes about drug issues, and the General Well-being Schedule (GWBS). Responses were received from 1,473 self-identified drug users. Of these, 567 completed only the first section, leaving 906 respondents who completed the entire survey. The typical respondent was a White male who was well educated, employed full-time, a participant in recreational and community activities, and who described his physical health status as good. Their mental health, as measured by the GWBS, was similar to the general adult U.S. population. Their drug-taking behavior appeared to be well-controlled, at mild to moderate levels in both frequency of use and degree of intoxication. These findings have major implications for drug policy and indicate the need for further research on the majority of drug users, who may be expected to resemble this sample more than they do clinical populations of drug abusers.

Stressful life events and loss of hair among adult women, a case-control study.

A case-control design was used to compare stress (as measured with the Social Readjustment Rating Scale) in the lives of 25 women who had experienced recent, unexplained hair loss with that of 25 women with no hair loss. High stress was reported by 22 of the women experiencing hair loss and 10 not experiencing hair loss. An odds ratio of 11 suggests that women who experience high stress are 11 times more likely to experience hair loss. Replication is encouraged.

An exploration of attitudes on sexuality at a northeastern urban university.

This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of scores on homophobia among 104 college students at a northeastern urban university. Participants reported their attitudes regarding homosexuals and homosexual behavior on Hudson and Rickett's Index of Homophobia. The 33 men indicated more negative attitudes about homosexuals and homosexual situations than the 71 women.

Chronic drinking, binge drinking and drunk driving.

Data from the Brief Risk Factor Surveillance System on 47 states were examined in an ecological analysis of the relationship between rates of binge drinking, chronic drinking, and driving while intoxicated (DWI). DWI rates were significantly associated with rates of binge drinking but not with chronic heavy drinking. This finding has implications for the nature and targets of efforts toward prevention.

Dutch drug policy: a model for America?

While debates over drug policy in America have focused on choices between demand reduction and supply reduction, the Dutch have pioneered the alternative strategy of harm reduction. The Dutch have built their policy around the principles of separation of markets, low threshold treatment, and normalization of treatment. These policies are worthy of examination as a possible model for drug policy reform in America.

Assessing variability of HIV transmission attitudes and behaviors at an urban northeastern university.

Teenagers in the United States are one of the populations whose HIV infection rates are increasing most rapidly. This study was designed to measure college students' knowledge of HIV transmission methods using Kittleson and Venglarcik's HIV Transmission Survey. Participants (N= 167) were divided into two groups, 99 students from a rural background and 68 students from an urban background. Students from an urban background were significantly more knowledgeable about documented HIV transmission modes than students from a rural background. Men were significantly less aware of documented HIV transmission modes than women. These results suggest that education about AIDS needs to be improved. The current educational procedures do not properly inform students in a fashion which exhibits the true risk of infection and those behaviors which increase risk. Fifteen years after the discovery of the HIV virus students are still largely unaware that they are at risk for contracting a fatal disease.

Growing up under the gun: Children and adolescents coping with violent neighborhoods.

Inner-city children are exposed to an environment fraught with violence. They are frequent victims of violence and even more frequent witnesses of violence. Exposure to violence can provoke a variety of responses in exposed children such as crying, tremors, withdrawal, etc. In addition to causing such acute stress reactions, exposure to violence can result in more lasting symptoms-including sleep disturbances, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and recurrent intrusive memories of the traumatic event. In many of these children such symptoms occur in combination and persist for long enough to justify a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Children are most likely to cope successfully with community violence if they have an internal locus of control, a strong sense of self-efficacy, and an optimistic and planful attitude toward the future. Parental support is particularly important in helping children to cope with stress. Professional interventions in the family and school can help children to cope with such trauma. Such interventions attempt to help children to cope with violent situations by construing the situations in positive ways, by working toward attainable goals and by not allowing them to be overwhelmed by their fear and frustration, thus preventing the trauma from permanently affecting them.

Health practices and mental health revisited.

The relationships of seven health practices with a measure of mental well-being were explored in a sample of 490 university students. Mental well-being was associated with moderate exercise and regular sleep.

Alcohol use and reported physician visits in older adults.

BACKGROUND: In general, older adults use a greater proportion of health care services than other age segments of the population. Alcohol abusers also use a greater proportion of health care services than alcohol nonabusers. Therefore we expected that among older adults, alcohol consumption would be positively related to health service use. In a sample of older adults, this study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and an indicator of health service use--the self-reported number of physician visits. METHODS: Data obtained on adult participants in the 1990 National Health Interview Survey, age 60 and older (n = 10,522), were examined. The number of physician visits was regressed on health status and alcohol consumption measures. RESULTS: Counter to a priori expectations, alcohol consumption was negatively associated with physician visits. This finding was obtained after adjusting for respondent sex and health status measures. CONCLUSIONS: Other research suggests that the rates of alcohol-related hospital admissions among older adults are on par with those of myocardial infarctions--an indication that harmful use of alcohol in older adults is going undetected. We found heavier alcohol consumption associated with fewer physician visits. This underscores the need for a better understanding of the role alcohol serves in the health perceptions of older adults. Broadening our knowledge in this area would be of benefit not only to the well-being of individuals also for health services policy considerations.

Drug law enforcement expenditures and drug-induced deaths.

The association between federal expenditures for drug law enforcement and the number of drug-induced deaths in the USA from 1981 through 1991 was examined. Significant positive associations were found for both numbers of deaths and death rates.

Harm reduction: an emerging new paradigm for drug education.

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 prevention of primary prevention, 1960-1994: Notes toward a case study.

This paper discusses the barriers that have kept primary prevention from realizing its potential.

Is smoking associated with height and weight?

The reported relationship between height and smoking was tested using data from a representative sample of the U.S. population (N = 41,014). Both height and weight were associated with smoking. A further analysis for males and females separately showed that the initial results were a result of confounding of the variables with gender.