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BACKGROUND: Caffeine, the only licit psychoactive drug available to minors, may have a harmful impact on students' health and adjustment, yet little is known about its use or effects on students, especially from a developmental perspective. Caffeine use in 5th- and 10th-grade students was examined in a cross-sectional design, and relations and potential mediators of caffeine use to depression and anxiety symptoms were investigated. METHODS: Children ( n = 135) and adolescents ( n = 79) completed a measure of naturalistic use of caffeinated and noncaffeinated beverages. Furthermore, daily availability, perceived benefits, and stimulating, psychological, and withdrawal effects of caffeinated and noncaffeinated beverages were assessed. Measures of depression and anxiety were also administered. RESULTS: Fifth and 10th graders used caffeine frequently. Depression was positively related to caffeine use for both cohorts, though mediated by caffeine withdrawal effects. Surprisingly, anxiety was unrelated to use. Fifth graders reported less daily access to caffeine, but more psychological and stimulating effects of caffeine than 10th graders. CONCLUSIONS: Although both children and adolescents experience negative caffeine-related outcomes, intake is seemingly not greatly limited in either cohort. In particular, youth appear vulnerable to increased depressive symptoms with increasing caffeine consumption. Implications for school policy regarding students' caffeine use are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of smoking among Chinese adolescents has dramatically increased in recent years. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Chinese students in 3 types of secondary schools. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 3957 students of seventh, eighth, and ninth grades and 2870 student parents from 3 public, 1 factory, and 2 general-paid private secondary schools at Guangzhou in 2004. Participants were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires about sociodemographic characteristics, smoking-related family and school environments, smoking-related knowledge and attitudes, and smoking behaviors. Results: The average scores of students’ smoking-related knowledge and attitudes (higher score, more against smoking) were highest in the factory school, followed by public schools and private schools. The differences among them were statistically significantly (P < .05). The lifetime smoking prevalence was also significantly different (P < .001) among 3 types of schools: 35.4% in private schools, 17.4% in public schools, and 13.2% in the factory school. The prevalence of students’ weekly smoking was also higher in private schools (6.2%) than in public schools (4.9%) or the factory school (4.0%). Similar disparity was observed in the prevalence of daily smoking (3.9% private, 3.5% public, and 2.7% factory). However, differences in weekly and daily smoking were not statistically significant (P > .05). Conclusions: Compared with students in public and factory schools, those in general-paid private schools had poorer smoking-related knowledge, more supportive attitudes toward smoking, and more popular smoking behaviors. Therefore, more intensive smoking prevention programs should be implemented among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: The federal Pro-Children's Act of 1994 and other public health laws prompted most schools to create policies that address tobacco issues. To date, however, the literature is devoid of research that assesses the quality of a district's tobacco policy. This article describes the process and results from a large-scale, tobacco policy review. An Interagency Tobacco Task Group requested that tobacco policies of all New York State schools be reviewed. A policy rubric was developed using the documents Fit, Healthy, and Ready to Learn and the School Health Index. The rubric assessed five policy components. Aggregate data were calculated for each policy component and for the final score. School policies also were evaluated for compliance with state and federal laws. Overall policy review scores were quite low, suggesting greater effort be placed on helping schools to develop more effective tobacco policies. Initial efforts included sending letters and a "tobacco tool kit" to schools containing recommendations and resources to improve their district's tobacco policy. (J Sch Health. 2002;72(8):334-338) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Kindergarten children's knowledge and perceptions of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATODs) were assessed and the congruence between parent ATOD use and children's knowledge of ATODs was examined. Data were collected during the preintervention phase of an A TOD prevention trial with 5- and 6-year-old children and their parents. Three elementary schools were randomly selected from a population of 15 high-risk elementary schools in Lexington, Ky., (n = 126 parent-child dyads). Children were interviewed about their knowledge, feelings, and attitudes toward ATODs using the Child Drug Awareness Inventory. Parents self-reported ATOD use. Almost all (95%) kindergarten children recognized cigarettes; 56% correctly identified alcoholic beverages; and 17% recognized at least one illicit drug. Minority children were almost four times more likely to recognize illicit drugs than were non-minority children. Children's knowledge of ATODs was not correlated with the parents' reported drug use. ATOD prevention programs for young children merit greater emphasis. (J Sch Health. 2000; 70(2):51-55) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]