PROJECT 2: The Effects of State Edu. Reqmnts for Alcohol, Tobacco, & other drugs

我们采用发展的观点来了解在何种条件下，国家健康教育课程要求有关酒精，烟草和其他药物（ATOD）对青少年物质使用有保护或有害的影响。多项青少年调查显示，尽管20年来略有改善，但在美国，参与危险行为（如ATOD的消费）的比例仍然高得令人不安，这表明公共政策干预的余地很大，可以减少青少年药物使用及其相关危害。我们将创建和维护一个持续的、全面的数据库，其中包括与ATOD教育有关的各州要求，以及与1990年代和2000年代通过的健康教育和学术内容有关的各种其他政策。发展理论将指导我们的实证模型。

We employ a developmental perspective to understand the conditions under which state health education curriculum requirements regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) have protective or harmful effects on youth substance use. Multiple youth surveys show that rates of participation in risky behaviors such as consumption of ATOD remain troublingly high in the US despite two decades of modest improvement, suggesting wide latitude for public policy interventions to reduce youth substance use and its related harms. We will create and maintain an ongoing, comprehensive database of state requirements pertaining to ATOD education as well as a variety of other policies pertaining to health education and academic content adopted over the 1990s and 2000s. Developmental theory will guide our empirical models. This theory suggests that the effects of policies will likely vary with the biological age and personal characteristics (e.g., gender, self-control) of students; characteristics of the student's school and peer groups (e.g., prevalence of substance use; peer use); and characteristics of the programs themselves (e.g. duration, approach). We will test these theories with the first comprehensive quasi-experimental analysis of state requirements for ATOD education in health curricula by exploiting substantial variation across states in the timing and implementation of these policies. Our outcome data will include teacher reports of actual health education instruction and youth self-reports of substance use from several representative datasets. This research will significantly advance our understanding of the appropriateness of statewide ATOD curriculum interventions in youth substance use.