A handbook designed to help parents advise their young adult children leaving for their first year of college has been shown to increase family connections and moderate risky behaviors like drug and alcohol use, according to research by Washington State University and the 91探花.

In an article published March 18 in , students whose families used the handbook reported their alcohol use over the past 30 days had increased 28% once they got to college, compared to a 39% increase among students whose parents didn鈥檛 receive the book. Cannabis use went up 23% for those control students, but only 16% for students whose families used the book.

鈥淭he handbook gives parents evidence-based guidance for threading the needle of supporting students鈥� autonomy and maintaining a parental role,鈥� said Laura Hill, a WSU professor in the Department of Human Development and corresponding author on the paper. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about telling students what to do or to not drink. It鈥檚 about supporting and guiding them to reinforce expectations that have been set over the previous 18 years of parenting.鈥�

The handbook, called 鈥淔irst Years Away from Home: Letting Go and Staying Connected,鈥� provides suggestions for talking about use of substances like alcohol in a productive way that supports students鈥� autonomy but also communicates expectations. Researchers say this helps avoid what can be an awkward conversation for both parents and young adults.

鈥淭he first six weeks of college are critical,鈥� said Hill, WSU鈥檚 senior vice provost. 鈥淎 lot of students have significantly more freedom and a lot less structure than at home, so it could be their first exposure to alcohol. Providing a way for parents to talk with their children before they move out helps set expectations and re-emphasizes values-based decision-making.鈥�

Following the study, and ahead of the 2022-23 academic year, the Washington Health Care Authority funded distribution of the handbook to families of incoming students at six universities in the state, said study co-author , professor emeritus of social work at the 91探花and former director of the 91探花Social Development Research Group. The 91探花sent out the books last fall.

鈥淥ne of the most amazing things about doing this kind of research is the ability to get it to the people who need it the most,鈥� said Haggerty, who, along with the 91探花co-authors developed the Raising Healthy Children programs to help young people navigate independence. 鈥淚t鈥檚 satisfying to know the state was so struck by the data that they wanted to get it in the hands of as many students as possible.鈥�

The study recruited 919 parent-student duos at WSU 鈥� two-thirds of whom received the book 鈥� and monitored them through regular surveys from the summer before the first semester at college, through the last semester of the students鈥� second year.

Researchers say the study shows that reinforcement of expectations leads to students using substances less often than their control group peers whose parents did not receive the handbook. Binge drinking increased by 41% for the control group versus 33% for the intervention (handbook) group, and extreme binge drinking 鈥� more than 10 drinks in a sitting 鈥� increased by 13% for the control group compared to 9% for the intervention group.

Going beyond substance use, the book is a guide to starting discussions about the expectations both parents and students have for college. The book includes activities like a financial planning worksheet, as well as plans for how often students will call home, what grades are expected, and who will pay for textbooks, laundry, meals and more.

鈥淲e helped design key areas, such as helping parents become more of a coach, a cheerleader and an advisor to their children,鈥� Haggerty said. 鈥淚 was a parent of kids going to college and you often think your kids don鈥檛 want to hear from you. The opposite is true. It鈥檚 just that the relationship changes 鈥� to more of a coach, cheerleader and advisor.鈥�

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Co-authors were Martie Skinner and Richard Catalano of the 91探花and Matt Bumpus and Brittany Cooper of WSU.

For more information, contact Hill at laurahill@wsu.edu or Haggerty at haggerty@uw.edu.

Adapted from a Washington State University press release.

Firearm injury is now the leading cause of death among U.S. children and adolescents. As its toll grows, researchers have focused on stopping violence in the moments before it happens. But new research led by the 91探花 suggests that interventions made earlier in young people鈥檚 lives may reduce the chances of it happening at all.听听

The study, , found that 鲍奥鈥檚 Communities That Care (CTC) prevention system reduced handgun carrying among adolescents growing up in rural areas. By the 12th grade, adolescents in CTC communities were 24% less likely to report carrying a handgun than those in communities without the program. Previous research has shown that handgun carrying is an important risk factor for听 firearm injury and harm.听听

鈥淭his provides yet another piece of evidence that science-based prevention systems such as CTC are worth further investments and scaling up, in different communities,鈥� said , 91探花professor of epidemiology and Interim Director of the UW’s . 鈥淔indings of this study suggest that community-based, science-based, upstream interventions focused on risk and protective factors early in life may play an important role in reducing firearm-related harm.鈥�听

The study surveyed more than 4,000 adolescents across 24 rural communities, 12 of which implemented a coordinated set of preventive interventions tailored to local priorities. Each year from 6th to 12th grade, researchers asked students about a wide range of behaviors, including whether they鈥檇 carried a handgun in the past year.听听

Adolescents in communities that implemented CTC were also 27% less likely to report carrying a handgun in a given grade than those in control communities.听听

Those findings, Rowhani-Rahbar said, merit deeper research into whether reduced handgun carrying in adolescence leads to a reduced risk of firearm-related violence throughout a person鈥檚 life. That鈥檚 especially true in rural areas, where the context around firearms may be different than in urban settings.听

Rowhani-Rahbar and his team have produced a of on among adolescents growing up in rural areas. A previous paper showed that about one-third of young males and 1 in 10 females in rural communities have carried a handgun, and that some rural youth began carrying handguns as early as sixth grade.听

鈥淭he overall burden of firearm mortality in rural areas is roughly the same as in urban areas, with differences seen in the manner in which it occurs at the population level,鈥� Rowhani-Rahbar said. 鈥淯nfortunately, rural communities continue to be under-researched and underserved.鈥澨�听

Data for this analysis came from an ongoing evaluation of CTC鈥檚 effectiveness over the past two decades.听听

Developed at the UW, CTC is an evidence-based prevention system that assists communities in using science-based solutions to foster the healthy development of young people. The 鲍奥鈥檚 Center for Communities That Care is currently helping to implement the system in 150 communities nationwide, in addition to 14 countries.听

The findings on handgun carrying stem from a long-term trial of CTC鈥檚 effectiveness. Including more than 4,000 adolescents, that trial has shown that CTC leads to long-term reductions in alcohol and drug use, antisocial behavior and violence beginning in adolescence, among other benefits.听听

Reducing gun-related risk was not an explicit goal of CTC. That it did anyway, 91探花social work professor Margaret Kuklinski said, points to the power of focusing on upstream risk factors to create wide-ranging change in the lives of young people 鈥� change that could last a lifetime.听听

鈥淏ehaviors in adolescence 鈥� both positive behaviors and behaviors we want young people to avoid 鈥� tend to share risk and protective factors,鈥� said , who is the 91探花Endowed Associate Professor of Prevention in Social Work and also director of the . 鈥淲hen CTC helps communities implement prevention approaches that, for example, strengthen commitment to school, increase positive activities for young people, reduce family conflict, or strengthen norms against alcohol and drug use, communities can expect to see a variety of positive behavior changes in young people. Now we know that those changes include reduced handgun carrying.鈥澨�听

Other authors are Sabrina Oesterle (Arizona State University), Emma Gause, Kimberly Dalve, Julia Schleimer (Department of Epidemiology, 91探花), Elizabeth Weybright (Washington State University), John Briney and David Hawkins (Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, 91探花). This research was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.听

For more information on this study, contact Ali Rowhani-Rahbar at rowhani@uw.edu.

Adult smokers who shift to using to e-cigarettes may have more chances to improve health and well-being, according to new research from the 91探花.

The study monitored changes in health and social functioning among smokers at two stages in adulthood, age 30 and again at 39. Approximately one-third of smokers shifted to vaping some or all the time by age 39. This group reported better physical health, exercised more and had more active social engagement, the study found.

鈥淒espite the obvious risks to nonsmokers, e-cigarettes have the potential to play a health-promoting role in the lives of smokers,鈥� said study co-author Marina Epstein, a research scientist with the in the 91探花School of Social Work.

The , which recently published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, drew from a larger longitudinal study, the Seattle Social Development Project, which in 1985 began following some 800 children as fifth-graders in Seattle elementary schools. The sample for the current study focused on 156 of those participants who reported smoking at age 30 and smoking or vaping at age 39.

E-cigarettes first appeared in the United States in the mid-2000s, right around the time the participants in the study sample turned 30. By 2018, . Vaping is especially popular among teens and young adults; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies e-cigarettes as the most popular tobacco product among young people in the U.S., estimating that . Previous research, from and , found that adolescent and young adult vaping can lead to later cigarette use. “In this way, e-cigarettes have been a public health disaster,” said study lead author Rick Kosterman, a research scientist with the Social Development Research Group.

At the same time, while vaping carries certain risks 鈥� the aerosol contains nicotine, small amounts of heavy metals and other ultrafine and cancer-causing particles that can enter the lungs 鈥� the CDC considers them .

Given the common perception of e-cigarettes as a 鈥渉ealthier鈥� alternative, the researchers wanted to examine behavior among smokers who switch to e-cigarettes some or all the time as they approach midlife. The research team collected a series of accepted measures of healthy aging and well-being, such as overall physical and mental health, engaging in healthy behaviors and social activities, and education and income levels. They then surveyed participants, at ages 30 and 39, about this information and how often they engaged in certain activities.

Of the 156 study participants, 64% smoked only combustible cigarettes at age 39; 28% smoked and vaped; and 8% only vaped. Results from the surveys showed that more frequent vaping 鈥� relative to smoking 鈥� was associated with better physical health, more exercise, more active social engagement and higher socioeconomic status.

鈥淎lthough the study cannot show a causal relationship, we think that because e-cigarettes have less stigma, less odor and are less physically harmful, they may increase health-promoting opportunities among smokers. E-cigarette users may be more likely to be in settings that promote physical activity and have more opportunities to interact with nonsmokers,鈥� said Kosterman.

No association was found between switching to vaping and better mental health, less-frequent use of other substances such as alcohol, or whether one’s partner or closest peers smoke (though vapers’ broader social environment may be healthier).

Overall, the researchers stress that e-cigarettes still have substantial public health downsides, but this study shows that smokers who turn to vaping, whether occasionally or instead of cigarettes, may have more opportunities for healthier lifestyle choices. That doesn鈥檛 mean vaping is healthy, they say, but that for people who already smoke 鈥� and are unable to quit 鈥� it can be associated with other healthy routines.

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Co-authors were Jennifer Bailey and J. David Hawkins of the Social Development Research Group.

For more information, contact Kosterman at rickk@uw.edu or Epstein at marinaep@uw.edu.

For Black youth, an encounter with police by eighth grade predicts they will be arrested by young adulthood 鈥� but the same is not true for white youth, a new 91探花 study finds.

Black young adults are 11 times more likely to be arrested by age 20 if they had an initial encounter with law enforcement in their early teens than Black youth who don鈥檛 have that first contact.

In contrast, white young adults with early police contact are not significantly more likely to be arrested later, compared with white peers without that history.

The study鈥檚 authors found that Black youth are more likely than white youth to be treated as 鈥渦sual suspects鈥� after a first encounter with police, leading to subsequent arrests over time. Even as white young adults report engaging in significantly more illegal behavior, Black young adults face more criminal penalties, the study finds.

Researchers also said it鈥檚 not just the number of stops, but what transpires during a police stop that sets the tone for future interactions with police.

鈥淲hat we know about police contacts and youth generally is that Black youth are more likely to be stopped by police to begin with, and are more likely to have a negative experience when that happens,鈥� said first author , a postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University who led the study while pursuing her doctorate at the UW. 鈥淲hat we haven鈥檛 known previously is the long-term effects of police contacts in terms of criminal justice outcomes.鈥�

McGlynn-Wright added that the , published Oct. 31 in the journal Social Problems, shows these early contacts with police create a 鈥渟ystem response鈥� to Black youth not experienced by white youth.

in who is stopped, why and for what penalty have been well documented, the researchers said. Also, police stops have been to individuals鈥� later run-ins with law enforcement.

For this study, 91探花researchers wanted to examine the effects of the first stop on the lives of Black and white adolescents, and whether a stop in the early teen years is associated with 鈥渟econdary sanctioning,鈥� or a 鈥渦sual suspects鈥� treatment by police that plays out over future stops and/or arrests. The study is among the first to explore the racial differences in police contact over time.

Using longitudinal data from more than 300 Seattle young adults, researchers found stark differences in the law enforcement trajectory of adolescents based on race, from the numbers of Black and white youth who encounter police by middle school, to the numbers arrested in high school and beyond.

It also comes during a period of significant reckoning over race and policing in the United States, after a series of law enforcement killings of Black people around the country. As communities grapple with how to address institutionalized racism, police procedures and accountability, many school districts, , have ended their contracts with law enforcement agencies for school resource officers, the personnel who are assigned to specific school buildings. Research has shown that by school resource officers.

The 91探花study launched nearly 20 years ago, with students at 18 Seattle schools. Nearly half of the 331 students were Black. Researchers surveyed students and parents, then followed up with participants in 10^th grade and at age 20 to learn more about behavior and consequences. Full data are available on 261 participants.

Differences were clear early on. While there were no differences in self-reported illegal behavior between Black and white youth at 8^th grade, 37% of Black teens said they had had some sort of contact with police, compared to 22% of white eighth-graders.

Researchers examined two trends at age 20: whether study participants had been arrested in the past year and whether they had engaged in any illegal activity, from violent crime to drug use to other criminal behavior, such as drawing graffiti, stealing from a store or breaking into private property. The idea, researchers said, was to determine not only who was being arrested, but also who was not.

Significantly more white participants reported engaging in some level of criminal behavior: 53% of white young adults, compared to 32% of Black young adults. But at age 20, Black youth were more than twice as likely to be arrested as white youth (15% compared to 6%). When the eighth-grade police contact is taken into account, it shows that early police contact for Black youth was uniquely predictive of being arrested by age 20, but not for white youth.

Simply put, Black respondents experiencing police contact by eighth grade have an 11 times greater chance of reporting an arrest by age 20 than Black respondents who did not experience early police contact. This was not the case for white youth.

The study was unable to explore the reasons behind these differences, but researchers said the results are clear:

鈥淲hite people are engaging in more illegal behavior, largely because of their greater drug use, and getting arrested less often at age 20 than Black people, who are committing fewer crimes and getting arrested more,鈥� said co-author , a professor in the 91探花School of Social Work and director of the .

Of the 261 respondents surveyed as young adults, white respondents were more likely to report illegal behavior than Black respondents (53% and 32%, respectively), primarily because they were substantially more likely than Blacks to report illegal drug use (40% and 14%, respectively).

While the data was collected in Seattle, researchers say the patterns they found are likely occurring in cities around the country 鈥� Seattle is 鈥渕ore like every other town鈥� than some larger metro areas like Chicago and Philadelphia, where many criminal justice studies are located, noted co-author , a professor emeritus of sociology at the UW.

The bulk of the 91探花research was conducted before the 2012 Seattle Police Department consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department, whereby the department was to address an excessive use of force, Crutchfield pointed out.

Still, the indisputable differences in the experiences of Black and white youth raise a number of policy and institutional issues. The authors note that it鈥檚 not just the quantity but the quality of stops 鈥� what are often called 鈥渋nvestigatory stops鈥� of a young person that raise alarm.

鈥淲hen police interact with communities, and young people in communities, they have to be especially mindful of the nature and substance of the encounters, and police really need training to avoid negative interactions,鈥� Crutchfield said. 鈥淲hat we found is that contact matters. In this study, we couldn鈥檛 parse out the nature of the interactions, but I suspect most kids experienced the interaction in a negative way. The message is, cops need to do better to minimize unnecessary contacts, and when they do contact people, to treat them better.鈥�

The paper鈥檚 findings also may support the choice by some school districts to end the practice of deploying police officers in schools, the authors said. Given the tendency for school resource officers to get involved in school discipline 鈥� though their primary assignment is to enforce the law and keep buildings safe 鈥� it presents another situation where Black students are often treated differently than white students.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. , a research scientist at the 91探花Social Development Research Group, was a co-author.

For more information, contact McGlynn-Wright at amcglynnwright@tulane.edu, Crutchfield at crutch@uw.edu or Haggerty at haggerty@uw.edu.

The legalization of marijuana for Washington state adults may be thwarting a steady downward trend in teen marijuana use, according to new research from the 91探花.

The longitudinal study of more than 230 teens and young adults finds that teens may be more likely to use marijuana following legalization 鈥� with the proliferation of stores and increasing adult use of the drug 鈥� than they otherwise would have been.

鈥淲hen we think about marijuana legalization, a worry is that underage use may go up,鈥� said , the study鈥檚 lead author and principal investigator with the Social Development Research Group in the 91探花School of Social Work. 鈥淓arly use and heavy use during adolescence can have a lot of negative health consequences, then and later in life, so we don鈥檛 want teen use to be going up.鈥�

Bailey notes that before marijuana legalization, rates of teen marijuana use and other drug use had both been decreasing over the last couple of decades.

The was published July 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Researchers examined whether marijuana legalization led to teen use of the drug, as well as teens鈥� perceptions that the drug is harmful. Controlling for age, sex, race and parent education of the participants, researchers found that kids who entered their teens more recently were less likely to report they’d used marijuana in the past year. For example, 11% of kids born before 2000 reported using marijuana over the past year at age 15, but only 5% of kids born after 2000 said they used marijuana at age 15.

That finding goes along with the general downward trend in teen substance use. But it was after accounting for this trend that the effect of legalization showed up, Bailey said. Controlling for the year when kids were born, teens interviewed after voter approval in 2012 of nonmedical marijuana were several times more likely to report they鈥檇 used marijuana in the past year. Bailey thinks this means that marijuana legalization may be working against the decreases in teen substance use seen in the recent past.

The new findings differ slightly from other showing that rates of underage marijuana use are holding steady or dropping a little after legalization. 91探花researchers say this may reflect methodology. The 91探花study was able to account for long-term trends in teen drug use by following kids born between 1989 and 2002 for 15 years and comparing kids who were teenagers before legalization to those who were teenagers after legalization. Other studies have used school-based or optional surveys to assess a larger population at once, and have not always accounted for long-term trends.

Those methods supply important information too, Bailey said. They just reflect a different angle on the issue. Broader, point-in-time surveys don鈥檛 look at individual change.

鈥淭hey can only see how a whole state changes over time,鈥� Bailey said. 鈥淒ata like ours let you look at individuals and how drug use and behavior change over time, and then we can relate that to changes in policy.鈥�

The participants in the 91探花research are some of the children of participants in a larger and older longitudinal study: the Seattle Social Development Project. That study has followed hundreds of people 鈥� since they were fifth-graders in Seattle elementary schools in the 1980s 鈥攖o evaluate an assortment of conditions, behaviors and life choices. The results from interviews with 233 of their children, pre- and post-marijuana legalization, were included in this new study.

Child participants ranged in age from 1 to 13 years old when the study began in 2002; marijuana use was assessed from ages 10 to 20. Researchers found that children in the sample entering their teens more recently were more likely to perceive the drug as harmful. For example, 69% of 15-year-olds born before 2000 said regular marijuana use is harmful, but 77% of 15-year-olds born after 2000 said using marijuana regularly is harmful. Bailey attributes this to years of drug prevention and education efforts in schools and communities.

The study did not, however, find an overall association between marijuana legalization and teens鈥� perceived harm from the drug. It could be that changing societal attitudes drive changes in marijuana laws, the authors noted, rather than that changing laws drive perceptions.

Researchers study the perception of harm because people are more likely to engage in a behavior they see as relatively risk-free, Bailey said. In the 1960s and 1970s, for instance, there was a generally low perception of harm from many drugs, and usage was higher than it was in subsequent decades, when perceived harm increased.

鈥淧eople generally like to take care of themselves. They don鈥檛 typically do things that carry risk of harm. Throughout the decades that we鈥檝e been tracking marijuana use, this highly correlates with whether someone will use or not,鈥� she said.

The 91探花study also found no connection between marijuana legalization and teen cigarette smoking; the use of one substance often goes with the other, Bailey said. Teen smoking nationwide has , which has been to higher taxes, greater restrictions and widespread public health marketing. Researchers are watching closely to see whether affect declines in teen smoking rates.

Similar studies in other states where marijuana has been legalized 鈥� the participants in this study lived almost exclusively in Washington state 鈥� could provide further evidence of links between laws and behavior, Bailey said. Currently, nearly a dozen states permit the sale of marijuana for nonmedical use; an additional 22 states allow the drug for medical purposes only.

Nonetheless, the 91探花findings can help inform prevention messages targeting teens and marijuana, Bailey said.

鈥淎 teen usage rate that holds steady isn鈥檛 good enough if it would normally be going down. We need to devote more attention to prevention of adolescent use in the context of legalization because we want to keep the decreases we鈥檝e been seeing before legalization was implemented,鈥� Bailey said.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Co-authors were and of the 91探花Social Development Research Group; Sabrina Oesterle, formerly of the Social Development Research Group, now at Arizona State University; Joseph Roscoe of the University of California, Berkeley; and Karl Hill of the University of Colorado Boulder.

For more information, contact Bailey at jabailey@uw.edu.

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Youth programs designed to prevent drug use and delinquency and support healthy development can reap lasting benefits not only for participants, but also for their future kids, according to a decades-long study by the University of Colorado and the 91探花.

The research focuses on a program called Raising Healthy Children, which the 鲍奥鈥檚 monitored in several Seattle elementary schools in the 1980s. The program was among the first to test the idea that problem behaviors could be prevented with specialized training for teachers, parents and young children.

Lead author , a professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU Boulder and director of the , first got involved with the study while a professor at the UW.

鈥淭his is the first published study to show that a broadly implemented, early childhood prevention program can have positive effects on the next generation,鈥� said Hill. 听“Previous studies have shown that childhood interventions can demonstrate benefits well into adulthood. These results show that benefits may extend into the next generation as well.”

The , part of a longitudinal study known as the Seattle Social Development Project, is published June 8 in JAMA Pediatrics.

For the study, researchers assessed children whose parents had participated in , created by 91探花social work professors听听and听, founders of the Social Development Research Group. 听听The lessons, for use by parents and teachers, focused on enhancing children鈥檚 opportunities for forming healthy bonds in grades 1 through 6 and providing them with social skills and reinforcements.听Set in 18 public elementary schools in Seattle, the program was among the first to test the idea that problem behaviors could be prevented with specialized training for teachers, parents and young children.

鈥淭eachers were taught how to better manage their classrooms, parents were taught to better manage their families, and kids were taught how to better manage their emotions and decision making,鈥� said Hill.

Previous studies have shown that by age 18 those who had gone through the program demonstrated better academic achievement than non-participants and were less likely to engage in violence, substance use or unsafe sex. By their 30s, they had gone further in school, tended to be better off financially, and scored better on mental health assessments.

Beginning in 2002, the researchers started following the first-born children of program participants via questionnaires for their teachers and parents. Beginning when the children were 6 years old, they also conducted annual interviews.

A total of 182 kids were studied for the new paper, including 72 whose parents had gone through the program and 110 whose parents had not.

Those whose parents had participated in Raising Healthy Children had fewer developmental delays in the first five years of life, fewer behavior problems, fewer symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 鈥� or ADHD 鈥� and better cognitive, academic and emotional maturity in the classroom. They were also significantly less likely to report using drugs or alcohol as a teenager.

鈥淲e already know that if you can prevent kids from getting involved in the criminal justice system, engaging in underage drinking and drug use, and experiencing depression and anxiety, you can save governments and families a lot of money,鈥� said co-author , assistant director of the Social Development Research Group at the UW. 鈥淥ur results suggest these programs, by delivering cross-generational effects, may be working even better than we thought.鈥�

Children whose parents had gone through the program in the 1980s also showed less 鈥渙ppositional defiance鈥� and 鈥渆xternalizing behaviors鈥� 鈥� two common precursors to serious violence later in life 鈥� said Hill. This suggests such interventions could play a role in stemming the tide of school violence.

The researchers caution that the study was a non-randomized controlled trial conducted in only one region of the country, and needs to be replicated before broad conclusions can be drawn. But amid a pandemic, when youth depression and anxiety are on the rise while budgets are being slashed and lawmakers may have a tendency to place prevention at a lower priority, Hill hopes the findings send a message.

鈥淏y investing in kids now and continuing to invest in them, we could be making generations to come more resilient for when the next national emergency comes around,鈥� said Hill.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In addition to Hawkins and Catalano, co-authors from the 91探花Social Development Research Group are principal investigator and project director . Additional authors were , an emeritus professor in the 91探花College of Education, and Christine Steeger of the University of Colorado.

For more information, contact Bailey at jabailey@uw.edu or Hill at karl.hill@colorado.edu.

Adapted from a University of Colorado news release.

Roughly one-third of young males and 1 in 10 females in rural communities have carried a handgun, reports a new 91探花 study. And, the study found, many of those rural kids started carrying as early as the sixth grade.

鈥淭his is one of the first longitudinal studies of rural adolescent handgun carrying across multiple states in the U.S.听It provides evidence that youth handgun carrying in these settings is not uncommon,鈥� said lead author , a 91探花associate professor of epidemiology and co-director of Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program at Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center.

The study of rural communities across the country, in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also found the practice was associated with pro-handgun attitudes and with having friends who carry handguns.

Knowing that some kids as young as 12 report carrying a handgun indicates that firearm violence and injury-related prevention programs may need to be introduced early in a child鈥檚 life, researchers say.

鈥淵outh handgun carrying and firearm violence are often presented as an exclusively inner-city problem,鈥� said Dr. Rowhani-Rahbar, who is the Bartley Dobb Professor for the Study and Prevention of Violence in the 91探花School of Public Health. 鈥淗owever, that focus should not come at the cost of ignoring non-urban settings. Indeed, youth in some rural areas experience similar or even higher rates of handgun carrying and certain forms of interpersonal violence 鈥撯�� for example, being attacked or threatened with a weapon 鈥撯�� than their counterparts in urban areas.鈥�

Specifically, the researchers found:

• In sixth grade, 11.5% of males and 2.8% of females had carried a handgun within the past year.
• From the sixth grade to age 19, 33.7% of males and 9.6% of females reported carrying at least once during that time.
• Of those who carried, 34% of males and 29.3% of females had carried a handgun for the first time in the sixth grade. However, of those who carried, a majority of both sexes carried a handgun only once over the seven years.
• More kids who carried had friends who did the same. For instance, in the 10th grade, 63% of males who carried had a friend who carried. And of those young males who had not carried a handgun, only 6% had a friend who did. The same pattern was apparent for females.
• A far higher percentage of kids who carried also endorsed pro-handgun norms. For instance, they were much more likely to view taking a handgun to school or work as 鈥渘ot very wrong鈥� than their non-carrying peers.

The study of handgun carrying among rural youth is based on 2,002 kids who started answering survey questionnaires in the sixth grade when they lived in 12 rural communities in seven states. Participants took annual surveys over a seven-year period, 2005 to 2012, as part of the 鲍奥鈥檚 . That larger study is designed to evaluate the university鈥檚 program, which helps communities take a broad approach to preventing youth problem behaviors.

The 12 communities included in the new study had been randomly selected to not implement the Communities That Care prevention program, which has been found to reduce a variety of risky behaviors among youth, including carrying a handgun.

鈥淲e looked at handgun questions only in the control communities, those that did not receive the risk prevention program,鈥� Dr. Rowhani-Rahbar explained. 鈥淭his is because we did not want to measure the effect of the Communities That Care intervention in this study. We wanted to characterize the age at initiation, prevalence and patterns of handgun carrying in the absence of the intervention.鈥�

The dangers of young people鈥檚 exposure to guns are well-documented 鈥撯�� firearm injury is second only to vehicle crashes as a among U.S. kids, with 65% of those deaths resulting from a conflict with another young person. Carrying firearms adolescent bullying, physical fighting and assault. The researchers also point out that federal law prohibits people under age 18 from possessing a handgun.

This is just the first step toward studying health effects, Dr. Rowhani-Rahbar said. A lack of foundational information about youth handgun carrying in rural settings means studies of the causes and consequences of this behavior have also been missing. The team now plans to study these factors 鈥撯�� risk of violence or injury among rural youth who carry a handgun compared to those who do not, for instance 鈥撯�� in the near future.

The Communities That Care program and its youth development study are run by the 91探花School of Social Work鈥檚 .

Co-authors are Sabrina Oesterle, who is now at Arizona State University and worked on this study while with the Social Development Research Group in the 91探花School of Social Work; and , a research scientist with the Social Development Research Group. This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Substance use at any age has consequences. Studies frequently cite the negative impacts 鈥� and occasionally tout some benefits of limited consumption 鈥� of alcohol and marijuana.

What is less known is how patterns of alcohol or marijuana use in one phase of life can affect the next generation, even long after an individual has stopped using.

A new study by the 91探花鈥檚 Social Development Research Group shows how a parent鈥檚 use of marijuana, past or present, can influence their child’s substance use and well-being.

鈥淭he really important takeaway is that parent history of marijuana use is an important risk factor for kids,鈥� said , lead author of the study and a project director at the SDRG, which is part of the 91探花School of Social Work.

The, published online Sept. 9 in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors,听builds off previous work that had grouped participants according to whether, when and how often they used, and examined impacts to their health and behavior. That study found four distinct patterns: 鈥渘onusers鈥�; 鈥渁dolescent-limited鈥� (confined to only that period of life); 鈥渓ate onset鈥� (starting in their late teens, early 20s); and 鈥渃hronic鈥� (ongoing and frequent). This study is based on a subset of the original participants who have become parents, and has linked parents’ past use of marijuana to their children’s use of and attitudes toward alcohol and marijuana, other problem behavior, and school achievement.

The original investigation involving parents began in the 1980s when the now-adults were in fifth grade at several Seattle elementary schools. Researchers have followed the participants ever since. In 2002, when the participants were 27, SDRG recruited those who had become parents and began interviewing their children about alcohol beginning at age 6, and marijuana starting at age 10. To date, 360 children completed interviews between the ages of 10 and 20.

Children and teens of chronic users were most likely to use alcohol and marijuana themselves, as researchers had predicted. But what came as more of a surprise was the behavior of children whose parents had primarily used during adolescence: Compared to the children of nonusers, children of adults in the 鈥渁dolescent-limited鈥� group were more than 2.5 times as likely to use marijuana and 1.8 times as likely to use alcohol. This was true even after parents鈥� current marijuana use was accounted for.

In comparison, children of chronic users were nearly 4.5 times as likely to use marijuana, and 2.75 times as likely to use alcohol, as children of nonusers.

Children in the 鈥渓ate-onset鈥� group, as it turned out, were least likely to use marijuana, as were children of nonusers. They did, however, have lower grades.

鈥淯sing marijuana in adolescence is associated with a host of other problems in the present and later into adulthood,鈥� said Epstein, who was the lead author on the that established the marijuana usage patterns. 鈥淣ow we see that echoing through to their children.鈥�

According to that prior study, people who used marijuana during their teen years tended to have poorer functioning during the period in which they were actively using, and, by their early 30s, to have lower academic and economic outcomes than people who started using as adults, or who never used.

Chronic users had the worst outcomes in terms of health and quality of life, Epstein added: Poor mental health, lower academic outcomes, less financial stability and greater tendency of criminal and/or risky behaviors were associated with frequent, lifetime marijuana use.

The researchers need additional studies to uncover reasons for the relatively high usage patterns among children in the adolescent-limited group. There may be a connection between a parent鈥檚 use during adolescence, for example, and their subsequent attitudes toward substance use among teenagers in general, Epstein said.

Today, 33 states have legalized marijuana in some form, often for medical purposes, and of those, 11 states 鈥� including Washington 鈥� have legalized it for recreational use. Those developments have implications for how parents talk to their children about marijuana and how health care providers talk to patients. Even a routine review of a child鈥檚 health history could include a question about a parent鈥檚 history of marijuana use 鈥� just to consider the potential impact on the child, Epstein said.

鈥淣ow that marijuana is legal, we have to be able to talk to parents about how they鈥檙e using, and to be more specific 鈥� how much, how often, whether this is lifelong pattern,鈥� said Epstein. 鈥淭he landscape of marijuana is changing, and we have to be mindful of it.鈥�

Co-authors were Jennifer Bailey and Madeline Furlong of the UW, and Christine Steeger and Karl Hill of the University of Colorado Boulder. The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

For information, contact Epstein at marinaep@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: R01DA023089, R01DA012138, R01DA033956, R01DA009679

What defines a 鈥済ood life鈥� in your 30s?

The exact answer probably depends on the person, but most people could agree on some general themes: good physical and mental health, solid relationships, and a steady job or good education. Being financially responsible and involvement in your community or civic life also help make life better.

Now 91探花 researchers have found that that 鈥済ood life鈥� in adulthood can start in grade school, by teaching parents and teachers to build stronger bonds with their children, and to help children form greater attachments to family and school. In a study of more than 800 adults throughout their 30s 鈥� a group the researchers have followed since they were fifth-graders at Seattle elementary schools in 1985 鈥� the people who reported better health and socioeconomic status were, consistently, those whose parents and teachers had received lessons aimed at building stronger bonds with their children decades ago.

The researchers know of no other study of a program provided during elementary school that has followed participants for this long. Participants in the longitudinal study, known as the Seattle Social Development Project, have responded to surveys over the years about health, , even the . Such research requires participants who will stick with a study over a big stretch of their lives, and nearly 90% of them have done just that.听The sample has about equal numbers of males and females, half are racial minorities, and about half had experienced poverty in childhood.

The latest study involved coming up with broad measures of health and functioning in adulthood, surveying participants on specific issues related to those measures, and comparing participants whose teachers and parents received the bonding interventions during elementary school with those who didn’t.

鈥淭hese early elementary-school interventions seek to make kids鈥� current lives better both in and out of school,鈥� said , a principal investigator with the Social Development Research Group, part of the 91探花School of Social Work. 鈥淏ut can we actually get kids on a different life trajectory that lasts beyond elementary school? In fact, we found enduring effects, where they鈥檙e having an overall better experience in adulthood.鈥�

The prevention curriculum, called , was created by 91探花social work professors and . The lessons, for use by parents and teachers, focused on enhancing children’s opportunities for forming healthy bonds in grades 1 through 6 and providing them with social skills and reinforcements. Teachers and parents of children in some classrooms of the 18 participating Seattle elementary schools used the curriculum in the 1980s, while those in other classrooms did not have access to it.

Many of the concepts are teaching tools and parenting tips that are well-known today: reinforcing positive behaviors; setting expectations for making responsible choices; and promoting positive social interaction at school through group projects and seating arrangements. Table groups in the classroom facilitate cooperation and learning from one another, for example, while at home, parents can 鈥渃atch鈥� their child being good and offer praise. With older children, parents can discuss issues such as smoking so that standards for healthy behavior are established before the teen years.

For the published in late spring in Prevention Science, Kosterman devised a list of nine measurable aspects of life for people in their 30s: physical health; mental health; health maintenance behaviors (such as exercise and sleep); low sex-risk behavior; low rates of substance abuse; friendships and relationships; socioeconomic status (income, education, homeownership); responsibility (employment, managing finances); and civic engagement. The team then used surveys and in-person physical evaluations to determine participants鈥� health and successful functioning in adult life.

In a comprehensive test of effects that combined all nine indicators of a healthy and successful adult life, those from intervention classrooms when in elementary school reported significantly better outcomes than those from comparison classrooms through their 30s. Specific areas of significant improvement included fewer symptoms of mental health disorders, more engagement in health maintenance behaviors, and overall better health and socioeconomic success. On the remaining measures, the intervention group scored better on each one, though not as dramatically, compared with the control group.

It鈥檚 hard to attribute results that manifest decades later directly to the curriculum, said Hawkins, a co-author on the new study. But the changed behaviors of their teachers and parents during the elementary grades likely had a snowball effect, leading to positive relationships and responsible decision-making in adulthood.

鈥淲e worked to build healthier relationships 鈥� we call it social bonding 鈥� between teachers and students, and parents and children. The larger question was, if we do all these things, will it turn into a prosocial, healthy lifestyle?鈥� Hawkins said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know we would see these results so much later in life.鈥�

In analyzing the data, researchers examined factors that tend to negatively affect health outcomes: whether a child grew up in poverty, was raised by a single parent, or born to a teenager. Participants who were born to a mother under age 20 were found to have a substantially lower quality of life on several of the measures, especially in the areas of socioeconomic status, physical health and substance abuse. The intervention effects the researchers found persisted even after controlling for these effects of being born to a teen mother.

鈥淭he most important thing we鈥檝e learned is to provide opportunities for kids to have positive social involvement,鈥� Hawkins said.听 鈥淢ake sure your kids have the opportunity to engage with you as a parent. Play with them, hold them; don鈥檛 just sit on your phone when you鈥檙e with them.

鈥淲hen kids feel bonded to you, they鈥檙e less likely to violate your expectations. And you are likely to be setting them up to have better lives long into the future.鈥�

Kosterman and his team have applied for funding to conduct further research on the group, now in their mid-40s, in midlife. “More studies are needed that test childhood interventions and follow participants through the 30s and beyond,” Kosterman added, “but we are encouraged that these findings suggest that lasting change for important outcomes is possible.”

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In addition to Catalano, other co-authors on the study were of the 91探花Social Development Research Group; , emeritus professor in the 91探花College of Education; and of the University of Colorado, Boulder.

For more information, contact Kosterman at rickk@uw.edu or 206-543-4546.

Grant numbers: R01DA033956, 1R01DA024411, 1R01DA09679

When Washington voters legalized marijuana in 2012, many parents found themselves with a new teachable moment.

Though illegal for anyone under 21, the drug presented a dilemma similar to alcohol: Retailers sold it, people openly consumed it 鈥� sometimes to excess 鈥� and parents themselves struggled with how to talk to their kids about their own use, past or present.

Unlike with alcohol, research on the health and developmental effects of marijuana . And the law鈥檚 complexity, along with the accessibility of marijuana products and stores, has left parents thinking more deliberately about how and why to set some ground rules.

Most parents agree that marijuana should be off-limits to children and teenagers, but they want information and advice from trustworthy sources, said , a research scientist with the 91探花鈥檚 . Those findings come from a published online Jan. 16 in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, by Eisenberg and a team of researchers.

鈥淲hat I heard a lot of parents saying is, essentially, ‘I can tell my kids not to use it, but I just don’t know how to enforce and reinforce that message,鈥欌�� Eisenberg said. 鈥淧arents are having a hard time reconciling societal norms with personal norms. Society has become more permissive, but at home, most parents don鈥檛 want their children to use marijuana. It鈥檚 a challenge that leaves them feeling like they don鈥檛 know what to do.鈥�

To that end, parents said they want guidance, she added.

鈥淧arents are eager to learn, and open to materials and programs that can help them. They鈥檙e open to factual, unbiased, scientific information, and they want to know how to talk to their kids,鈥� Eisenberg said.

Based on focus group interviews with 54 adults, the study examined parents鈥� attitudes and challenges around marijuana use. Researchers grouped parents according to the ages of their children and by their own usage of marijuana during the past year (as measured by a prior confidential survey); those who had used during the past year, to any degree, were in one group, and those who had not were in another. That separation was designed to better identify differences in how these groups parent; participants were not told anything about other group members鈥� marijuana use.

Yet, in both groups, there were common themes that emerged which can be useful in delivering educational and prevention-oriented messages, Eisenberg said.

For parents, talking to kids about marijuana can mean many things: explaining its risks and effects, deciding on rules and consequences, and choosing whether to share their own history. Researchers didn鈥檛 offer answers 鈥� that wasn鈥檛 their role, or the purpose of the study 鈥� but parents appeared to appreciate hearing from each other, Eisenberg said.

Among the challenges parents discussed were adequate and appropriate consequences for breaking house rules, while a few parents of older kids, especially in the user-groups, described a harm-reduction approach, such as discussing with their teens how to use marijuana safely. Parents who chose this strategy said that while they didn鈥檛 want their children to use marijuana, they figured that if the children were going to try it anyway, they might as well educate them.

What makes the issue so thorny is the relatively rapid legal and cultural change around marijuana, said , a co-author of the study from the Social Development Research Group. While marijuana has become even more available since these interviews were conducted in 2014, parents鈥� questions are unlikely to have changed.

鈥淚n many ways, parenting around marijuana use is similar to that of alcohol use, since they鈥檙e both legal for adults,鈥� Kosterman said. 鈥淎 key difference is where I think parents and society in general have accepted that some people can become dependent on alcohol and it can ruin people鈥檚 lives if used in excess. Parents and kids aren鈥檛 so clear about risks of marijuana use 鈥攍ike the potential for misuse or effects on adolescent brains.

“We are still learning about the risks of teen marijuana use, as well as potential medical uses.”

The study鈥檚 conclusion points to how parents might seek answers, whether through community-oriented drug prevention programs or through information from health care providers, public health agencies or school programs.

鈥淭he fact that parents in this study openly asked for guidance highlights an opportunity for the prevention science community to work with medical professionals, schools and policymakers to fulfill this vital need at a critical time of policy transition in the United States,鈥� the authors wrote.

Alongside this study of parenting practices is a companion study by the same research team, forthcoming in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, about parent perceptions of teens鈥� exposure to marijuana use following legalization in Washington state.

The parents who agreed to participate in both studies came from a longitudinal study the research group 听launched in the 1980s called the Seattle Social Development Project. The focus group sample was 39 percent white, 37 percent African American, 17 percent Asian American and 7 percent Native American. Of these groups, approximately 5 percent were Latino.

The study on parenting practices was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Additional authors were , a postdoctoral researcher at the 91探花School of Social Work and an affiliate at Colorado State University;听 and , of the Social Development Research Group; and of USC.

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For more information, contact Eisenberg at neisen@uw.edu.

Grant numbers: R01DA023089, R01DA033956