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INTRODUCTION: There is an established link between non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) and heroin use among adults; however, little is known about this relationship among adolescents. We investigate this association among a nationally-representative sample of U.S. high school students. METHODS: Using data from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (n = 13,462), we ran logistic regression models with multiple imputation to examine the association between NMUPD and heroin use, while controlling for other risk behaviors and mental health problems. RESULTS: In the final adjusted model, compared to high school students reporting never misusing prescription drugs, those reporting NMUPD 1–9 times in their lives had a 1.90 times greater odds of heroin use and those reporting ≥10 times had a 5.59 times greater odds. Additionally, the following variables were significantly associated with heroin use: being male, carrying a weapon in the past 30 days, history of sexual intercourse, dating violence victimization, and reporting other drug use. CONCLUSION: NMUPD was associated with increased odds of heroin use among high school students. Future studies should investigate what other factors increase the risk of heroin use longitudinally, which is crucial to understanding how to best intervene among this population to prevent NMUPD and heroin use.

Evidence-based interventions to reduce substance misuse among adolescents are resource and time intensive. We conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate a novel, adaptable, and resource-efficient substance misuse preventive intervention for parents/guardians, focusing on talking with children about substance use and eating family meals. We randomized 70 parents of children in third-through-sixth grades within a large, urban public school system in New England to the intervention or control condition. Over a 6-month follow-up period, we assessed feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and examined frequency of parent–child conversations about alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, and frequency and duration of family meals. A total of 29 parents were assigned to the intervention and 35 to the control condition. The intervention was found to be feasible and acceptable to participants as evidenced by high recruitment and retention rates and positive feedback from qualitative exit interviews. At 3-month and 6-month follow up, 64.3 % and 44.5 % of parents in the intervention condition were talking “a lot” to their children about alcohol, compared to 8.7 % and 8.7 % of the parents in the control condition, respectively (p

Background Little is known about effective at-home oral care methods for people with developmental disabilities (DDs) who are unable to perform personal preventive practices themselves and rely on caregivers for assistance.

Little is known about effective at-home oral care methods for people with developmental disabilities (DDs) who are unable to perform personal preventive practices themselves and rely on caregivers for assistance.A convenience sample of 808 caregivers (84.5 percent paid, 15.5 percent family members) who accompanied adults with DDs (20 years or older) to appointments at a specialized statewide dental care system completed computer-assisted personal interview surveys. The authors used these data to investigate caregivers' at-home oral care experiences and to explore differences between caregivers who were paid and those who were family members.Caregivers reported that a high proportion (85 percent) of dentate adults with DDs received assistance with tooth cleaning. They also reported a high prevalence of dental problems, and low adherence to brushing (79 percent) and flossing (22 percent) recommendations. More caregivers reported that they felt confident assisting with brushing than with flossing (85 percent versus 54 percent). Family members and paid caregivers differed with respect to confidence and training.At-home oral care, particularly flossing, presents substantial challenges for adults with DDs. Solutions must be tailored to address the different experiences and distinct needs of the family members and paid caregivers who assist these adults.Caregivers play an important role in providing at-home oral care, and they must be included in efforts to improve oral health outcomes for people with DDs.

Two reports by the U.S. surgeon general noted the disproportionate impact of oral disease on and lack of oral health information regarding people with disabilities.In this retrospective study, the authors used clinical and demographic data (from April 1, 2009, through March 31, 2010) from electronic dental records of 4,732 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) who were receiving dental care through a state-supported system of dental clinics. The authors used these data to investigate the oral health status of, and associated risk factors for, adults with IDD.The prevalence of untreated caries in the study population was 32.2 percent, of periodontitis was 80.3 percent and of edentulism was 10.9 percent. The mean (standard deviation) numbers of decayed teeth; missing teeth; and decayed, missing and filled teeth were 1.0 (2.2), 6.7 (7.0) and 13.9 (7.7), respectively.Management of oral health presents significant challenges in adults with IDD. Age, ability to cooperate with dental treatment and type of residence are important considerations in identifying preventive strategies.The study population demonstrated a high burden of dental disease. Further research is required to identify effective interventions to improve oral health in adults with IDD.

Introduction Children who frequently eat family meals are less likely to develop risk- and behavior-related outcomes, such as substance misuse, sexual risk, and obesity. Few studies have examined sociodemographic characteristics associated with both meal frequency (i.e., number of meals) and duration (i.e., number of minutes spent at mealtimes). Methods We examine the association between sociodemographics and family meal frequency and duration among a sample of 85 parents in a large New England city that was recruited through the public-school system. Additionally, we examined differences in family meals by race/ethnicity and parental nativity. Unadjusted ANOVA and adjusted ANCOVA models were used to assess the associations between sociodemographic characteristics and frequency and duration of meals. Results Sociodemographic characteristics were not significantly associated with the frequency of family meals; however, in the adjusted models, differences were associated with duration of meals. Parents who were born outside the U.S. spent an average of 135.0 min eating meals per day with their children compared to 76.2 for parents who were born in the U.S. (p