Adolescents Perceptions of Risk

An article in today's New York Times discusses research about differences between adolescents and adults in their perceptions of the risks and benefits of "risky behaviors"--including speeding, drug and alcohol use, and unprotected sex--and differences between older and younger adolescents.

The essence is that adolescents have pretty accurate perceptions of the risk involved in these behaviors or, in fact, overestimate the risks. Rather, they appear consistently to overestimate the benefits of the risky behavior. One implication is that providing more information on the risks of such behaviors may increase the behaviors intended for prevention because it informs the youth that they have overestimated their risks. Read the rest of the article for one approach to overcoming this dilemma.

What might this imply for treatment of adolescents with substance use disorders in Tennessee? How does this fit with current practice and anticipated future practices?

Year 1 Report Available Online

Although the report was completed this spring and approved by the GOCCC this summer, I apparently forgot to post the completed year 1 evaluation report. Sorry for the delay. Here is the link to the file at the www.T-ACT.info archive.

Detecting Community Drug Use

The current (09 Dec 2007) issue of the New York Times Magazine reports on the use of "community urinalysis" to detect drug usage and drug use patterns by monitoring a city's waste water.

The method is essentially similar to community detection efforts in Italy.