SAGE Journal Articles

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SAGE Journal User Guide

Article 1:
 
Abstract:
Reviews research on risk factors for adolescent substance use disorders (SUD) and discusses possible relationships between SUDs and learning disabilities (LD). Individual level factors (genetic, biologic, other familial, and psychiatric) emerge as very important in the risk equation, as well as the interaction between individual risk and environmental conditions. Commonalities between SUD risk and LD include prenatal substance exposure, family history of SUD, conduct disorder, social skills deficits, and academic failure; however, further research is needed to establish whether individuals with LD face a specific risk for SUDs, and if so, what the nature of that risk might be.
 
Questions to consider:
1. What are the differences in the risk factors for substance use and the risk factors for substance abuse and dependence?
2. List and discuss the environmental risk factors for adolescent substance use and abuse.
3. List and discuss the protective factors that limit or reduce adolescent substance use and abuse.
 
Article 2:
 
Abstract:
Although substance abuse often accompanies delinquency and other forms of antisocial behavior, there is less scholarly agreement about the timing of substance use vis-à-vis an individual’s antisocial trajectory. Similarly, although there is extraordinary evidence that onset is inversely related to the severity of the criminal career, there is surprisingly little research on the offense type of onset or the type of antisocial behavior that was displayed when an individual initiated his or her offending career. Drawing on data from a sample of serious adult criminal offenders (N = 500), the current study examined 12 forms of juvenile delinquency (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, auto theft, arson, weapons, sexual offense, drug sales, and drug use) in addition to age at arrest onset, age, sex, race to explore their association with chronicity (total arrests), extreme chronicity (1 SD above the mean which was equivalent to 90 career arrests), and lambda (offending per year). The only onset offense type that was significantly associated with all criminal career outcomes was juvenile drug use. Additional research on the offense type of delinquent onset is needed to understand launching points of serious antisocial careers.
 
Questions to consider:
1.  In what ways is adolescent substance use related to juvenile delinquency?
2.  Explain the relationship between juvenile drug use and onset offense type.
3.  In order to prevent juvenile delinquency, what suggestions do you have to address juvenile drug use?
 
Article 3:
 
Abstract:
To assess the impact of a parenting intervention, Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generacio ́n (FPNG), intended to support children, on parents heavy drinking. We hypothesized that parent participants of FPNG would reduce their heavy drinking at 1-year follow-up. Parents (N 1⁄4 281) of middle school children from a large, low-income metropolitan area in the Southwest United States participated in a randomized control trial over 2 years. A logistic regression analysis using the maximum likelihood test determined that at Wave 3, parents receiving FPNG reduced heavy drinking behaviors compared to parents in the youth-only condition (odds ratio 1⁄4 .86, p < .05). Participating in the parenting program can effectively curb heavy drinking behaviors in parents—an important mechanism through which one may expect changes in youth risk behavior. The practice, policy, and research implications of these unintended findings are promising to the overall effectiveness of a parenting intervention for Mexican-heritage families.
 
Questions to consider:
1.  What are substance-related disorders been associated with? Explain the use patterns and changes in substance use among the Mexican American community.
2.  Explain the Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación (FPNG) parenting intervention.
3.  What unintended outcomes occurred because of the FPNG intervention?