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This article examines various aspects of school physical characteristics relating to problem behavior among students. We hypothesize that an attractive physical environment will be associated with less truancy, cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, whereas a negative physical environment will be associated with higher levels of these behaviors. Analyses use data from nationally representative samples of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students who participated in annual surveys conducted by the Monitoring the Future project from 2000 to 2003. Analyses also use data collected from principals and field interviewers of the same schools. Results based on multilevel logistic and linear regressions indicate that students are sensitive to schools' ambience and that the association of various aspects of the school's physical environment with students' problem behaviors is greater for 10th-grade students than for 8th-and 12th-grade students. The implications of these findings for school policies and practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a comparison of reporting of drug use and related attitudes and beliefs by national samples of eighth and tenth grade students under two different modes of administration conditions: confidential and anonymous. The results show that there were clearly no differences between the conditions in tenth graders' reports of drug use and related attitudes and beliefs. With eighth graders, the results show, at most, only a very modest mode of administration effect and quite possibly no effect at all. The results are reassuring to researchers who conduct surveys of drug use and related attitudes and beliefs among secondary school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the attitude-behavior literature, considerable disagreement exists as to when groups and institutions will influence attitudes, when they will influence behavior independently of attitudes, and when they will influence behavior by interacting with attitudes. By drawing on research on the bases of power, this paper attempts to specify the conditions that create each type of effect. Traditional classifications of the bases of power, however, cannot explain interactions. Attitude-behavior research suggests that interactions result from facilitation power. Facilitation power in part consists of the ability to influence behavior by providing social cooperation or fry altering environmental circumstances. National survey data are used to examine how the bases of power available to schools, religious institutions, and peers influence drug use. The results generally support the hypotheses relating types of power to types of effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National data from Monitoring the Future were used to examine patterns and predictors of college attendance. Samples of American 12th-grade students from 1977 to 2003 were followed for 7 years (modal ages 18-25; N = 10,020). College attendance and graduation patterns varied considerably over historical time and based on family background. Substance use during high school predicted a greater likelihood of never attending (for cigarettes, illegal drugs), of graduating from a 2-year rather than a 4-year school (for cigarettes), and of dropping out versus graduating from a 4-year school (for cigarettes, marijuana, and other illegal drugs). High school binge drinking predicted lower college dropout, but only in models also controlling for cigarette, marijuana, and other illicit drug use. This study provides a needed overview of adolescent predictors of patterns of college attendance among American young adults over the past three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined self-reported reasons for the use of nine substances among nationally representative samples of U.S. high school seniors participating in the Monitoring the Future study from 1976 through 2005. In general, social/recreational reasons were the most commonly reported reasons for the use of most drugs. However, for psychotherapeutic drugs, coping with negative affect and physical needs were reasons most commonly mentioned. Results indicated that the proportion of students reporting various reasons has shifted significantly over time. Further, we found significant differences by gender and race/ethnicity in reported reasons for use. Prevention and intervention efforts must address the facts that (1) while social usage reasons do predominate, it is essential to consider coping and drug-effect reasons for use as well; and (2) there are appreciable differences by gender and race/ethnicity in reasons for drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which examined differences in adolescents' use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs by racial and ethnic groups. Methods; Results; Conclusions.

The article focuses on military service as a career option for college graduates in the U.S. A project called Monitoring the Future (MTF) has been developed by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which shows that though students at the end of high school become skilled to comprehend the technicalities of militarism, the number of students enlisting for military service is comparatively less. Students are planning to take on both college and military service simultaneously as they are realizing the importance of completing four years of college. Therefore the U.S. is targeting on these students for taking them on as military recruits.

In this investigation, two indicators of high school educational success (grade point average and college plans) were examined to determine their influence on cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drug use during the transition to young adulthood. Panel data were obtained from the 1978-81 Monitoring the Future nationally representative samples of high school seniors. The sample for this analysis included 3,399 White respondents (weighted cases) followed three to four years post-high school. Structural equation models that included background and mediating characteristics were developed and tested using LISREL VII. Consistent with a selection hypothesis, high school GPA had a negative indirect effect on post-high school substance use that operated largely via senior-year substance use. College plans during high school had a similar negative effect on post-high school cigarette use, but consistent with a differential-socialization hypothesis, they had a positive indirect effect on post-high school alcohol use that operated primarily via student and marital status during young adulthood. College plans had no impact on post-high school illicit drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores alternative explanations for the recent sharp decline in cocaine use among high school seniors, using questionnaire data from annual nationwide surveys conducted from 1976 through 1988. Results show important parallels with earlier analyses of the longer-term decline in marijuana use. Although lifestyle factors (e.g., religious commitment, truancy, evenings out for fun and recreation) show strong links with use of marijuana and cocaine, these factors have not developed trends in ways that can account for the declines in use of either drug. Reported availability of either drug has not been reduced. Instead, increases in perceived risks and disapproval appear to have contributed substantially to the recent declines in use of marijuana and cocaine. The findings provide strong support for the use of realistic information about risks and consequences as an important ingredient in efforts to prevent drug use. Coupled with the findings on availability, the results emphasize the importance of efforts to reduce demand (as opposed to supply). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marijuana use among high school seniors has been declining since 1979. This paper explores two alternative explanations of this trend: that young people have become more conservative in general, or that specific changes in views about marijuana have led to the decline in its use. We report bivariate and multivariate analyses of questionnaire data from annual nationwide surveys of high school seniors, 1976 through 1986. Lifestyle factors such as religious commitment, truancy, and evenings away from home are linked strongly to individual differences in marijuana use: these factors, however, have not trended in ways. that can account for much of the recent decline in marijuana use. On the other hand, the analyses suggest that if perceived risks and disapproval associated with regular marijuana use had not risen substantially in recent years, the decline in actual use would not have occurred. The implications for drug use prevention efforts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We extend the routine activity perspective's situational analysis of crime to individual offending and to a broad range of deviant behaviors. In this view, unstructured socializing with peers in the absence of authority figures presents opportunities for deviance: In the presence of peers, deviant acts will be easier and more rewarding; the absence of authority figures reduces the potential for social control responses to deviance; and the lack of structure leaves time available for deviant behavior. To determine whether individuals who spend more time in unstructured socializing activities engage in deviant behaviors more frequently, we analyzed within-individual changes in routine activities and deviance across five waves of data for a national sample of more than 1,700 18- to 26-year-olds. Participation in these routine activities was strongly associated with criminal behavior, heavy alcohol use, use of marijuana and other illicit drugs, and dangerous driving. Furthermore, routine activities accounted for a substantial portion of the association between these deviant behaviors and age, sex, and socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because a wide variety of deviant behaviors are positively correlated with one another, some researchers conclude that all are manifestations of a single general tendency. The present analysis incorporated three waves of self-reports about heavy alcohol use, marijuana use, use of other illicit drugs, dangerous driving, and other criminal behavior for a nationally representative sample of high school seniors. A relatively stable general involvement in deviance accounted for virtually all association between different types of deviance, but the stability of each behavior could only be explained by equally important and stable specific influences. Thus, theories that treat different deviant behaviors as alternative manifestations of a single general tendency can account for some, but far from all, of the meaningful variance in these behaviors, The only significant influence of one type of deviance on another was that of marijuana use on later use of other illicit drugs. The causal model also revealed interpretable shifts in the associations among these behaviors over the four years following high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines relationships between local drug policy (as represented by prosecutor-reported case outcomes for first-offender juvenile marijuana possession cases) and youth self-reported marijuana use, perceived risk, and disapproval. Interviews with prosecutors and surveys of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students in the United States were conducted in 2000. Analyses include data from 97 prosecutors and students from 127 schools in 40 states. Results indicate significant relationships between local drug policy and youth marijuana use and attitudes. In general, more-severe dispositions are associated with less marijuana use, higher disapproval rates, and increased perceptions of great risk. Associations primarily appear to be specific to marijuana-related outcomes. Results are discussed within the framework of both deterrence and broader social norms regarding substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of this study were to identify trajectory groups of frequent marijuana use during emerging adulthood; distinguish among trajectory groups according to demographic and lifestyle characteristics; and examine how the trajectory groups relate to behavioral, attitudinal, and social-emotional correlates over time. National panel data from the Monitoring the Future study were used: 18 cohorts of high school seniors (classes of 1977-1994) were followed biennially through age 24. Frequent marijuana use was defined as 3+ occasions of use in past month and/or 20 to 40+ occasions in past year. Based on four waves of complete longitudinal data (N=19,952), six frequent marijuana use trajectory groups were identified: chronic, decreased, increased, fling, rare, and abstain. Categorical analyses revealed trajectory group differences in demographic and lifestyle characteristics at senior year and age 24. The trajectory groups varied significantly in longitudinal patterns of other substance use, problem behaviors, and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes several surveys regarding the perennial interests and attitude of military personnel in comparison with civilian views in the United States. It reflects that the military personnel in the nation are above average in patriotism, nationalism, conservatism and traditionalism. The surveys reveal that the senior military officers have shown more conservative and militant attitudes toward many issues than civilians. According to a survey, the young men entering the military are slightly more hawkish in comparison with their counterparts in the civilian labor force.

The article analyzes the temporal trends and subgroup differences in youths to serve in the U.S. Military. The data for the study was taken from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan's Monitoring the Future project, which surveyed high school seniors since 1975 and eighth and tenth grade students since 1991. The first phase of the all-volunteer force was classified by entry-level military pay that had been adjusted upward in the last years of conscription, recruiting resources which had been improved to make the volunteer force a success. The second phase was just the reversal of the first phase.

The article analyzes a large-scale longitudinal survey to monitor the quantity and quality of personnel in the civilian labor force who might be available for voluntary military service. A survey program conducted by the University of Michigan is "Monitoring the Future" (MtF) project. Under the survey, high school seniors were monitored since 1975 to find out the course of their subsequent career up to the age of thirty-five. The data is used to address questions about the aptitude of young workers to enlist in the armed forces.