Jennifer A. Epstein

Lying in everyday life.

In 2 diary studies of lying, 77 college students reported telling 2 lies a day, and 70 community members told 1. Participants told more self-centered lies than other-oriented lies, except in dyads involving only women, in which other-oriented lies were as common as self-centered ones. Participants told relatively more self-centered lies to men and relatively more other-oriented lies to women. Consistent with the view of lying as an everyday social interaction process, participants said that they did not regard their lies as serious and did not plan them much or worry about being caught. Still, social interactions in which lies were told were less pleasant and less intimate than those in which no lies were told.

Preventing illicit drug use in adolescents: Long-term follow-up data from a randomized control trial of a school population

National survey data indicate that illicit drug use has steadily increased among American adolescents since 1992. This upward trend underscores the need for identifying effective prevention approaches capable of reducing the use of both licit and illicit drugs. The present study examined long-term follow-up data from a large-scale randomized prevention trial to determine the extent to which participation in a cognitive-behavioral skills-training prevention program led to less illicit drug use than for untreated controls. Data were collected by mail from 447 individuals who were contacted after the end of the 12th grade, 6.5 years after the initial pretest. Results indicated that students who received the prevention program (Life Skills Training) during junior high school reported less use of illicit drugs than controls. These results also support the hypothesis that illicit drug use can be prevented by targeting the use of gateway drugs such as tobacco and alcohol.

A Six-Year Follow-Up Study of Determinants of Heavy Cigarette Smoking Among High-School Seniors

Most adult cigarette smokers start smoking during adolescence. Few studies, however, have focused on adolescents that are heavy smokers. The present study examined how several risk and protective factors measured during early adolescence were associated with heavy smoking in a sample of high-school seniors. As part of a school-based survey, seventh-grade students (N=743) reported degrees of experimentation with psychoactive substances and several psychosocial factors deemed to be important in the etiology of smoking. Students were followed-up in the twelfth grade, when 12% (n=88) smoked a pack of cigarettes or more each day. Logistic regression analyses revealed that heavy smoking was predicted by several earlier variables: poor grades, experimentation with cigarettes or alcohol, a mother or many friends that smoked, and high risk-taking in the seventh grade. Antismoking attitudes and those of ones parents and friends predicted less later heavy smoking in girls only. Implications for smoking prevention are discussed.

Linguistic acculturation associated with higher marijuana and polydrug use among hispanic adolescents

Hispanic sixth and seventh graders in 22 New York City middle schools (mean age: 12.66 years) completed self-report questionnaires with items related to drug use (cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and marijuana) use and linguistic acculturation at two assessments (N= 1299 at baseline; N = 1038 at 1-year follow-up). Adolescents who spoke English with their parents smoked marijuana more frequently than those who spoke Spanish with their parents at both surveys.By the 1-year follow-up, students who spoke English with their parents and bilingual students who spoke English and Spanish with their parents engaged in greater polydrug use than those who spoke Spanish with their parents.

Ethnic and gender differences in smoking prevalence among a longitudinal sample of inner-city adolescents

PURPOSE To determine if ethnic and gender differences in smoking (lifetime prevalence and 30-day prevalence) exist among a cohort of Asian, black, Hispanic, and white inner-city adolescents during the 3-year middle school period. METHODS Students in 22 urban schools completed self-report questionnaires and provided carbon monoxide breath samples at three annual assessments. Chi-square analyses were conducted to test for associations between ethnic group (Asian, black, Hispanic, and white) and smoking and to test for gender differences in smoking within each ethnic group. Additional analyses examined differences in smoking between two Hispanic subgroups (Puerto Rican and Dominican). RESULTS Ethnicity was associated with lifetime smoking prevalence at all three assessment points but was only associated with 30-day smoking prevalence at the 2-year follow-up. However, there were no differences in smoking between Puerto Rican and Dominican youth. Black girls reported higher lifetime smoking prevalence than black boys at all three assessments. At the 2-year follow-up, Asian boys reported higher lifetime smoking prevalence than Asian girls; Hispanic girls reported higher 30-day prevalence than Hispanic boys. CONCLUSIONS White and Hispanic adolescents were at higher risk for smoking relative to Asian and black adolescents. With the exception of white youth, gender differences were found within each ethnic group.

Predictors of cigarette smoking among inner-city minority youth

Limited information is available concerning the etiology of smoking among minority youth. We examined predictors of smoking among inner-city African-American and Latino seventh graders (N = 757). Enhanced self-reports of cigarette smoking were collected along with data concerning background, social environmental, and individual characteristics hypothesized to promote smoking. Results indicated that friends and peers were the most important social influences in predicting smoking. Several psychological factors, including feelings of hopelessness, low efficacy in life skills (social skills, communication skills, and refusal skills) and low self-esteem seemed related to increased susceptibility to smoking. We discuss implications of our findings for effective prevention programs for minority youth. J Dev Behav Pediatr 15:67–73, 1994. Index terms: smoking, minority youth, social influences.

Personal Competence Skills, Distress, and Well-Being as Determinants of Substance Use in a Predominantly Minority Urban Adolescent Sample

Several previous studies have investigated the relationship between psychological distress and substance use among youth. However, less research has investigated the potentially protective role of psychological well-being on adolescent substance use, and the extent to which personal competence skills may promote well-being. The present study examined personal competence skills, psychological distress and well-being, and adolescent substance use over a 3-year period in a predominantly minority sample of urban students (N = 1,184) attending 13 junior high schools in New York City. Structural equation modeling indicated that greater competence skills predicted less distress and greater well-being over time. Although psychological well-being was associated with less subsequent substance use, distress did not predict later substance use. Findings indicate that competence skills promote resilience against early stage substance use in part by enhancing psychological well-being, and suggest that school-based prevention programs should include competence enhancement components in order to promote resilience.

Psychosocial predictors of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments

BACKGROUND Adolescents residing in low-income public housing developments in inner-city regions may be particularly vulnerable to a variety of risk factors associated with cigarette smoking. OBJECTIVE To elucidate the aetiology of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS We examined predictors of smoking from four domains: background characteristics, social influences, behavioural control, and psychosocial characteristics using a sample of seventh graders (mean age 12.9 years) who reside in public housing developments in New York City (n = 624). The addresses of participants in a larger investigation of the aetiology and prevention of smoking were checked to determine if they lived in one of 335 public housing developments in New York City. All participants living in public housing developments were included in the current study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES African-American and Hispanic students completed questionnaires about their cigarette use, social pressures to smoke, smoking attitudes, smoking knowledge, and smoking resistance skills. Students also provided information on demographic and behavioural control (such as church and school attendance). RESULTS Logistic regression analyses indicated that social influences from friends and family members predicted smoking. Psychosocial characteristics such as advertising resistance skills, anti-smoking attitudes, and refusal skills lowered the odds of smoking. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that smoking prevention approaches targeted at these young people should increase their awareness of social pressures to smoke, correct misperceptions about the prevalence of smoking among friends, and teach relevant psychosocial skills.

Gender-specific risk factors for suicidality among high school students

This study examined differences in three major risk areas associated with suicidality (suicidal ideation and suicide attempts) separately by gender: 1) substance use, 2) aggression/victimization, and 3) risky sexual behaviors. This study is a secondary data analysis of the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance (YRBS) survey, consisting of data collected from a nationally representative sample of high school students. Early alcohol onset, having had sex before age 13, injection drug use, and being forced to have sex were associated with suicidality across gender. Smoking in girls was associated with making a plan to attempt suicide and actual suicide attempts. Fighting was related to suicidality for girls, while fighting in school was related to suicidality for boys. The importance of examining risk factors for suicidality separately for boys and girls is discussed.

Risk Factors for Suicidality among a Nationally Representative Sample of High School Students.

Using the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data (n = 13,917) of high school students, we examined the association between four domains of risk factors (alcohol/drug use, aggression, HIV risk-related behaviors, and health problems) and indicators of suicidality (considering a suicide attempt, making a plan to attempt suicide, and actually attempting suicide). Logistic regressions showed that drug use (e.g., recent smoking, drinking before 13), victimization (e.g., threatened at school, hit by girl/boyfriend), risky sexual behavior (e.g., forced to have sex, used a condom) and two health problems (health as fair/poor, has disability/health problem) were associated with all three indicators of suicidality. These findings suggest that programs to prevent alcohol/drug use, address aggression, promote safety, and prevent unsafe sexual practices may also prevent suicidality.