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Introduction and Aims The aim of our paper is to present trend data concerning public opinion on alcohol policy in the Canadian province of Ontario over a 16-year period (1996-2011), to assess if the level of support for alcohol control policies changed over this period and if any changes in public support for alcohol policy parallel real changes in alcohol distribution in Ontario. Design and Methods Selected policy-related items from 10 probability surveys of Ontario adults were analysed by means of logistic regression. Results A significant decline was found for attitudes supporting restricting corner stores sales and government control of liquor stores. A weaker decline was seen for attitudes towards reducing the number of places to buy alcohol. However, an increasing trend for attitudes favouring the status quo or greater control through taxes and hours of sale was found. There was no significant trend for attitudes towards maintaining the current level or reducing the number of liquor or beer stores. While there was some variation in trends in support by demographic characteristics and drinking level, not one sector stood out. Discussion and Conclusions A gradual erosion of support is evident and concurrent with gradual increase in access to alcohol in Ontario during the time-period under study. The decline in support for alcohol control measures seems to be a general rather than a focused development. It appears that this was largely due to a shift in a greater percentage supporting the status quo, not a move towards increasing access to alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims To assess the prevalence and key covariates of non-medical prescription opioid use ( NMPOU) in two representative surveys of adults ( Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Monitor, CM) and secondary-school students ( Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, OSDUHS). Design and Methods Data from the 2010 and 2011 cycles ( n = 4023) of CM-a stratified, multi-stage, random-digit-dialling telephone survey of adults (18 years and older)-and the 2011 cycle of OSDUHS ( n = 3266)-a self-administered written questionnaire-based survey of grade 7-12 public system students-were used. Besides NMPOU prevalence, associations were assessed by univariate and multi-step multivariate (logistic regression) analyses. NMPOU and key socioeconomic (i.e. sex, age, Aboriginal ethnicity, household location, income, subjective social status), health indicators (physical health status, psychological distress, suicidal ideation), drug use (cigarette smoking, binge drinking, cannabis use, other drug use) were measured. Results NMPOU (past year) prevalence was 15.5% in students and 5.9% in adults. Various univariate associations with social, health and drug use factors were found in both populations, with differences by sex. Based on multivariate analyses, other drug use (male students) and rural residence, subjective social status, other drug use and suicidal ideation (female students); marital status and cannabis use (male adults) and binge drinking (female adults) were independently associated with NMPOU in the respective study populations. Discussion and Conclusions NMPOU was high in adults and especially students. Independent predictors of NMPOU were largely inconsistent by sex. Notably, NMPOU is widely distributed across socio-demographic and -economic strata, and thus requires broad-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stigma is a significant barrier to the improvement of the lives of people with schizophrenia. Little is known about the emergence of stigmatizing attitudes developmentally. The purpose of this study was to provide a provincial assessment of adolescent knowledge about schizophrenia and to identify the relationship between adolescent knowledge and social distance toward people with schizophrenia. Data were derived from the 2005 cycle of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. In total, 3,117, 7th- to 12th-graders completed self-administered questionnaires that included a measure of schizophrenia knowledge and social distancing. Results indicated that the majority of adolescents had some knowledge about schizophrenia and low social distancing toward people with schizophrenia. Greater knowledge, increasing age, being female, and lower parental education were associated with less distancing attitudes. Educational campaigns to reduce stigma may still be warranted as one component of broader multilevel interventions to overcome mental illness stigma. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between history of family involvement with child protective services (CPS) and bullying was examined. Method: Data were obtained from 2,516 pupils aged 12–19 in the 2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey. The association between self-reported history of family involvement with CPS and bullying was estimated using negative binomial hurdle regression models. Results: Females who reported family CPS involvement were more likely to have bullied and been bullied compared with females without CPS involvement. Among males, family CPS involvement was only significantly associated with bully victimisation. Conclusion: A history of family CPS involvement was a risk factor for bullying victimisation and perpetration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Despite high rates of firesetting among community adolescents, little is known about its correlates. This study identifies the mental health and substance use correlates of four firesetting levels in an epidemiological sample of adolescents. Methods: Three thousand, nine hundred and sixty-five (3,965) students in grades 7 to 12 were surveyed. Multinomial analyses were used to compare non-firesetters; desisters (lifetime, but no past-year firesetting); low frequency firesetters (once or twice in the past 12 months); and high frequency firesetters (3 + times) on measures of mental health and substance use. Results: Twenty-seven percent of youth reported firesetting during the past year. Of these, 13.7% reported one or two episodes, and 13.5% reported 3 or more episodes. Firesetting was more prevalent among males and among those in high school. Youth who began firesetting before age 10 were more likely to report frequent firesetting during the past year. Compared to non-firesetters, the firesetting groups had elevated risk profiles. Desisters and low frequency firesetters were more likely to report psychological distress, binge drinking, frequent cannabis use, and sensation seeking. Low frequency firesetters also reported higher rates of delinquent behavior, suicidal intent, and low parental monitoring than non-firesetters. High frequency firesetters reported elevated risk ratios for all of these risk indicators plus other illicit drug use. The cumulative number of risk indicators was positively associated with firesetting severity. Conclusions: Firesetting is associated with psychopathology and substance use during adolescence. Findings highlight the need for programs to address the mental health and substance use problems that co-occur with firesetting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is strong theoretical and empirical support for school connectedness as an important element of healthy youth development. The primary objective of this study was to replicate previous research identifying factors differentiating youth who do not feel connected to their schools in a sample of adolescents in Ontario, Canada. A secondary objective was to extend this work by assessing whether physical activity was an additional health behavior that differentiated youth who feel connected to their schools from those who do not. Methods: Data for this study were based on questionnaires from 2243 grade 7 to grade 12 students derived from the 2001 cycle of the Ontario Student Drug Use Survey. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine associations between physical activity, other health risk factors, and school disconnectedness. Results: The odds of feeling disconnected from their schools were substantially greater for female students who perceived their health or academic performance to be poor, engaged in no vigorous physical activity, reported 3 or more physician visits during the past year, and had low extracurricular involvement. None of the sociodemographic factors or substance use measures was significantly associated with school disconnectedness for any students. Conclusions: Our results highlight sex differences in how school disconnectedness is related to health-compromising behaviors such as physical inactivity. Further research is required to examine how boys and girls perceive, interpret, and internalize the school climate. Increasing school connectedness should be a consideration for academic administrators and health-promotion advocates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how measures of risk and perceived social support relate to different configurations of adolescent psychopathology using data from a community-based, longitudinal investigation of 284 individuals interviewed in 1982 at age 5 and again at age 19. Discriminant analysis was used to assess differences in risk and social support variables among eight clusters of youth: anxious, anxious drinkers, depressed, depressed drug abusers, antisocial, antisocial drinkers, drug abusers, problem drinkers, and a ninth group representing those participants without a diagnosis. The results indicated that one function, defined by loadings for (low) family support and (high) early cumulative risk, accounted for the majority of between-group associations. Two groups of drug-abusing youth with multiple adjustment problems were highest on this function, while non-disordered youth and a group of participants with substance abuse alone were lowest. Findings are discussed in terms of the need to consider comorbidity when examining risk factors for later disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontario introduced an Administrative Driver's Licence Suspension (ADLS) law in 1996, whereby a person with a blood alcohol level over the legal limit of 80 mg%, or who refused to provide a breath sample, would have his or her driver's licence suspended immediately for a period of 90 days. We test the differential deterrence hypothesis which would predict that social or lighter drinkers would be more affected by the Administrative Driver's License Suspension law than heavier drinkers. Data from the 1996 and 1997 cycles of the Ontario Drug Monitor, a general population survey of Ontario adults (monthly cross-sectional surveys), were employed (response rate 64–67%). Analyses were restricted to drivers who reported at least some drinking during the last year ( n = 3827). The total number of drinks consumed during the past 12 months was analysed with analysis of variance. We found that the mean alcohol consumption of those who reported drinking-driving increased significantly after the ADLS was introduced, whereas the alcohol consumption of those who did not drive after drinking remained the same. The limits of this study include a lack of comparison data from regions without ADLS, a reliance on self-report measures, possible age restrictions of the findings and the fact that only an inferential test of the differential deterrence hypothesis is permitted by the data. Despite these limitations, these findings are consistent with the prediction that lighter or more moderate drinkers will tend to stop driving after drinking completely, and thus drop out of the drinking-driving population when the ADLS law was introduced, leaving heavier drinkers in this population. It will be important to continue to examine the dynamics of differential deterrence over a longer interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims  To compare alcohol use among US and Canadian college students. Design  Results of the 1999 College Alcohol Study and the 1998 Canadian Campus Survey are compared. Setting  One hundred and nineteen nationally representative US 4‐year colleges and universities in 40 states and 16 nationally representative Canadian 4‐year universities. Participants  Randomly selected students under 25 years (12 344 US and 6729 Canadian). Measurements  Self‐reports of alcohol use and heavy alcohol use. Findings  The prevalence of life‐time and past year alcohol use is significantly higher among Canadian students than US students (92% versus 86%, 87% versus 81%). The prevalence of heavy alcohol use (typically consuming five or more drinks in a row for males/four or more for females) among past‐year and past‐week drinkers is significantly higher among US students than Canadian students (41% versus 35%, 54% versus 42%). In both countries younger students and students living at home with their parents are less likely to be heavy drinkers; students who report first drunkenness before the age of 16 are more likely to be heavy drinkers in college. Conclusion  Programs aimed at students' heavy alcohol use should target freshman at entry or earlier. Since students living with their parents are less likely to be heavy drinkers, parents may play a potentially important role in prevention efforts. The patterns of drinking in both countries may be influenced by the legal minimum drinking age. However, the relationship is complex and must be viewed in the context of other variables such as chronological age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines drug selling among representative samples of high school students in Ontario. It involves three approaches, (I) examining the trend in drug selling between 1985 and 1989, (ii) assessing differences between sellers and non-sellers on demographic characteristics, levels of alcohol and drug use, and problems, and (iii) drawing detailed profiles of drug seller types. Drug selling declined considerably between 1983 and 1989. Sellers were more likely to be males and to use alcohol and drugs more often than non-sellers. Sellers also had more alcohol and drug problem, and engaged in more delinquent acts. Drug sellers who sold cannabis only were less frequent users of drugs, less likely to have drug problems, and were also delinquent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent of substance use and problems among adolescent 'street' and homeless populations is largely undocumented. This study describes the prevalence of drug use among a sample of 145 adolescent street youth interviewed during February and March 1990 in Toronto, Canada, and compares these data to those derived from other adolescent street and mainstream populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Re-analysis employing covariance-structural models was conducted on Strickland's (1983) survey data on 772 drinking students from Grades 7, 9 and 11. These data bear on the relations among alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, association with drinking peers and exposure to televised alcohol advertising. Whereas Strickland used a just-identified model which, therefore, could nor be tested for goodness of fit, our re-analysis tested several alternative models, which could be contradicted by the data. One mode; did fit his data particularly well. Its major implications are as follows: (1) Symptomatic consumption, negative consequences and self-rated severity of alcohol-related problems apparently reflect a common underlying factor, namely alcohol abuse. (2) Use of alcohol to relieve distress and frequency of intoxication, however, appear not to reflect abuse, although frequent intoxication contributes substantially to it. (3) Alcohol advertising affects consumption directly and abuse indirectly, although peer association has far greater impact on both consumption and abuse. These findings are interpreted as lending little support to further restrictions on advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present paper was to examine firstly the distribution of THC consumption among an aggregate sample of 4737 students from Ontario, Canada, and secondly the assumption of log-normality. With respect to the estimation of THC consumption the following was indicated: per capita consumption was estimated to be 310 mg; males consumed significantly more than did females; and consumption was curvilinearly related to age of student. In contrast to earlier findings, the assumption of log-normality was not met. The preventative implications of the log-normal distribution are indeed important, not only with respect to alcohol but also to other substance use and therefore require further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the relationship between religious affiliation, intensity of religious feelings, frequency of church attendance on the one hand, and on the other, drug use among a sample of adolescent students (N = 2,066). Six drug-use measures were employed: alcohol use; cannabis use; non-medical and medical drug use; hallucinogenic use; and polydrug use. The findings indicate that, religious-affiliation of students was insignificantly related to drug use. The only exception to this rule was for alcohol use, in which case non-affiliated students used less frequently than did Protestant or Roman Catholic students. Church attendance exhibited a stronger negatives effect on drug use than did religiosity; however, the effect of the latter had greater impact among females than among males. Overall, the impact of both variables increased as the drug examined moved towards the upper end of the licit-illict drug continuum. Finally, many of the results varied according to students' gender and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on the correlation of drug abuse and delinquency in among adolescent students in Ontario, Canada. Contributing factors; Mechanics of the study; Table showing delinquent behavior among males and females.

Examines the use of data from a randomly selected sample of 840 Ontario, Canadian students to identify factors that affect self-rated physical health. Factors which directly and indirectly influence self-rated health; Details on what type of data was used; Disparity between the sexes in ratings of physical health in most youth surveys; Analysis of factors that affect self-rated physical health.

Opinion. Presents a commentary on the study `Alcohol Misuse and Juvenile Offending in Adolescence,' by David M. Fergusson, Michael T. Lynskey, and L. John Horwood which was published April 1996 issue of `Addiction.' Characteristics of adolescents; Lack of reference to non-parental role models.