One of the goals of the Nat. Institute on Drug Abuse is to help the public understand the causes of drug abuse and to prevent its onset. This is a summary of topics covered in the newest ed. of the guide, "Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents", which includes updated principles, new questions and answers, new program information, and expanded references and resources. This In Brief edition summarizes sections of the guide for community use. Chapters: Prevention Principles; Risk Factors and Protective Factors; Planning for Drug Abuse Prevention in the Community; Applying Prevention Principles to Drug Abuse Prevention Programs; Examples of Research-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs; and Selected Resources and References.

This book examines the current strides being made in evidence-based drug prevention, particularly with school-age youth. It explores decades of research and successful programs to help researchers, practitioners, and policy makers make further progress in preventing drug abuse.

Abstract: The object of this book is to provide practitioners with a developmental framework for a better understanding of the factors contributing to substance abuse, and to critique the campaigns, curricula, and related efforts designed to prevent substa nce abuse among children and adolscents. This information is provided to meet the growing demand for consultation and assistance in the field of substance abuse prevention. Topics include: the prevalence and consequences of drug use and abuse among youth; major theories explaining and predicting substance abuse; existing prevention strategies; identification and treatment of at-risk youth; translating theories and strategies into effective action; and, future trends in substance abuse prevention.

One of the goals of the Nat. Institute on Drug Abuse is to help the public understand the causes of drug abuse and to prevent its onset. This newest edition of "Preventing Drug Use Among Children and Adolescents" includes updated principles, new questions and answers, new program information, and expanded references and resources. Chapters: Introduction; Preventive Principles; Risk Factors and Protective Factors; Planning for Drug Abuse Prevention in the Community; Applying Prevention Principles to Drug Abuse Prevention Programs; Examples of Research-Based Drug Abuse Prevention Programs; and Selected Resources and References.

Adolescent substance abuse is the nation's #1 public health problem. It originates out of a developmental era where experimentation with the world is increasingly taking place, and where major changes in physical self and social relationships are taking place. These changes cannot be understood by any one discipline nor can they be described by focusing only on the behavioral and social problems of this age period, the characteristics of normal development, or the pharmacology and addictive potential of specific drugs. They require knowledge of the brain's systems of reward and control, genetics, psychopharmacology, personality, child development, psychopathology, family dynamics, peer group relationships, culture, social policy, and more. Drawing on the expertise of the leading researchers in this field, this Handbook provides the most comprehensive summarization of current knowledge about adolescent substance abuse. The Handbook is organized into eight sections covering the literature on the developmental context of this life period, the epidemiology of adolescent use and abuse, similarities and differences in use, addictive potential, and consequences of use for different drugs; etiology and course as characterized at different levels of mechanistic analysis ranging from the genetic and neural to the behavioural and social. Two sections cover the clinical ramifications of abuse, and prevention and intervention strategies to most effectively deal with these problems. The Handbook's last section addresses the role of social policy in framing the problem, in addressing it, and explores its potential role in alleviating it.