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

我们从发展的角度来理解国家健康教育课程中关于酒精、烟草和其他药物(ATOD)的要求对青少年物质使用具有保护或有害影响的条件。多项年轻人调查显示，尽管经过20年的温和改善，但在美国，消费ATOD等危险行为的参与率仍然高得令人不安，这表明公共政策干预在很大程度上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教育有关的州要求，以及1990年代和2000年代通过的与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经验模型。 这一理论表明，政策的效果可能会随着学生的生物年龄和个人特征(例如，性别、自我控制)、学生所在学校和同龄人群体的特征(例如，药物使用的普遍性；同伴使用)以及项目本身的特征(例如，持续时间、方法)而变化。我们将通过第一次对健康课程中ATOD教育的州要求进行全面的准实验分析来检验这些理论，方法是利用各州在这些政策的时间和实施方面的巨大差异。我们的结果数据将包括教师对实际健康教育指导的报告，以及来自几个有代表性的数据集的青少年对物质使用的自我报告。 这项研究将极大地促进我们对全州ATOD课程干预青少年药物使用的适当性的理解。

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.