PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Kenneth J Steinman

Publications and source records attributed to Kenneth J Steinman.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Drug selling among high school students: related risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics.

PURPOSE: To identify risk behaviors and psychosocial characteristics associated with high school students' selling drugs. METHODS: In 2000, an anonymous standardized survey assessed substance use, drug selling and related risk factors (e.g., friends' use; messages about use) among high school students (n = 38,999) in a large metropolitan area. The sample was 51% female and included adolescents who were white (70%), African-American (18%), Asian (3.3%), Hispanic (1.7%) or who reported other ethnicities (7%). Logistic regression analyses examined whether selling drugs was associated with variables from different explanatory models, net of risk behavior and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Twelve percent of students reported selling drugs in the past year. In the final logistic regression model, selling drugs was associated with being male, violence, delinquency and marijuana use. Students who sold drugs were less involved in religious and family activities but did not differ in their perceptions of, or participation in, school. Friends and school adults' support of substance use was associated with selling drugs, as was daily employment. Social competence, but neither purposeful planning nor self-efficacy, was associated with selling drugs. CONCLUSIONS: Despite popular perceptions, drug selling is not limited to out-of-school youth but occurs frequently among students who attend high school. School-based prevention efforts should discourage drug selling in order to reduce students' access to drugs and protect young people from the dangers associated with drug selling.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Religious activity and risk behavior among African American adolescents: concurrent and developmental effects.

This study examines how religious activity is associated with risk behaviors, concurrently and developmentally among urban African American adolescents. Seven hundred and five African American youths were interviewed annually during high school. Retention rates for the study exceeded 90%. Frequency of religious activity, sexual intercourse, and alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use were assessed at each wave. Growth curve analyses found negative concurrent associations between religious activity and each of the four risk behaviors. The developmental effects of religious activity varied by gender. Higher levels of religious activity in 9th grade predicted smaller increases in marijuana use among males and cigarette use among females. In addition, larger decreases in religious activity during high school were associated with greater increases in alcohol use among males and sexual intercourse among females. During high school, religious activity limits the development of certain types of risk behavior among African American youth, even after controlling for reciprocal effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents.

PURPOSE: To examine whether similar risk factors influenced episodic and persistent gun-carrying among urban African-American adolescents. METHODS: The sample consisted of 705 African-American youths (48.9% male; mean age at baseline = 14.56 years) who were interviewed annually throughout high school as part of a larger study on students who leave school before graduation. Episodic gun-carrying was defined as carrying a gun during one or two waves of the study. Persistent gun-carrying involved carrying a gun during three or four waves. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to test how risk factors assessed at ninth grade influenced the persistence of gun-carrying. RESULTS: Fifteen percent of students reported carrying a gun episodically, and 5% persistently. "Male gender" (OR = 3.61, 95% CI = 2.16-6.04), "adult weapon-carrying" (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.20-2.09), "marijuana use" (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.01-1.06), "selling drugs" (OR = 3.24, 95% CI = 1.52-6.92), and "fighting" (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.14-2.15) distinguished noncarriers from episodic carriers. Frequency of fighting (OR = 1.60, 95% CI = 1.00-2.57) and selling drugs (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.16-9.35) distinguished episodic gun-carriers from persistent gun-carriers. Variables associated with victimization did not uniquely differentiate among the patterns of gun-carrying. These results were similar for males and females. CONCLUSIONS: Similar risk factors characterize episodic and persistent gun-carrying. Specifically, selling drugs and fighting had a strong dose-response relationship with the persistence of gun-carrying. In this population, episodic gun-carrying should be viewed as very risky and not merely as youthful experimentation or a defensive behavior.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

College students' early cessation from episodic heavy drinking: prevalence and correlates.

The author surveyed 788 undergraduates at a large public university (overall response rate 54%) to (1) estimate the proportion of college students who cease engaging in a pattern of episodic heavy drinking (EHD) and (2) identify individual and contextual factors associated with early cessation. He used a staging algorithm to classify respondents into 4 stages of EHD cessation. Of the 60% who had engaged in EHD, 64% continued to drink heavily with no intention of stopping, 12% continued to drink heavily but were thinking about stopping, 14% had ceased temporarily, and 9% had ceased permanently. Students who had stopped EHD perceived more risks and fewer benefits associated with alcohol misuse, but they did not differ in their perceptions of normative alcohol use on campus. Many collegiate heavy drinkers cease EHD before graduation, and others may be predisposed to moderate their alcohol use. Tailored interventions that alter alcohol expectancies may facilitate early cessation from EHD.

Adolescent↗