Main description:

Psychological vulnerabilities and environment influences are the most powerful forces shaping the behavior and choices of students to use harmful substances. This book employs computer-assisted Associative Group Analysis technology of comparative imaging and cognitive mapping to identify these factors and offers new perspectives for more comprehensive risk assessments and effective prevention.

Contents:

Introduction: Tracing Dispositions Affecting the Use of Harmful Substances. Part I: The Assessment of Internal Dispositions Through Comparative Imaging. 1. Alcohol, Drugs: Images That Help to Identify Sources of Differences between Use and Non-Use. 2. Additional Images (Friends, Fun) Useful in Tracing Psychological Dispositions to Use Alchol and Drugs. 3. The System: Mapping the World of Users and Nonusers. Part II: The Assessment of Vulerability/Resistance Through Cognitive Mapping. 4. The Measurement of Vulerability/Resistance: The Propensity for Substance Abuse. 5. Vulnerability and Resistance: The Effects of Using Various Harmful Substances. 6. Criterion and Construct Validation of the Vulnerability/Resistance Measure. Part III: Tracing the Effects of Background and Lifestyle on the Use of Harmful Substances. 7. Background and Group Membership: Factors Affecting Substance Abuse. 8. Lifestyles Affecting Culnerability to Substance Abuse. 9. Academic Performance and Lifestyles That Build Resistance. Part IV: Tracing Environmental Influences, Cultural and Social. 10. Cultural Factors in Substance Abuse. 11. Acculturation - Its Impact on Substance Abuse: Puerto Ricans In New York. 12. The Phantom Power of Environmental Influences. 13. Program Development and Culturally Adapted Training. Part V: Applications: Diagnostics, Program Planning, and Evaluation. 14. An Early Warning System: Assessment of Risks by Measuring Vulnerability/Resistance. 15. Planning and Targeting Programs Based on Imaging and Mapping. 16. Program Evaluation, Feedback by Measuring Vulnerability/Resistance. Part VI: The Latest Developments and Future Perspectives. 17. Some of the Well-Known Approaches to Drug Prevention. 18. The Latest Scientific Developments Open a Window on Propensities. 19. Comprehensive Prevention: Future Perspectives. Appendix. References. Index.