Prevalence of substance use and delinquent behavior in adolescents from Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States

This article compares prevalence estimates of substance use and  delinquent behavior in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia, two states chosen for their different policy environments around problem behavior. Few comparisons of international differences on rates of multiple problem behavior exist, and most are based on methods that are not matched, raising the question of whether findings are based on  methodological differences rather than actual rate differences. The  International Youth Development Study used standardized methods to recruit and administer an adaptation of the Communities That Care Youth Survey to representative state samples of fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students in each state. Rates of delinquent behavior were generally comparable.  However, striking differences in substance use were noted, with Victoria students reporting higher rates of alcohol use, alcohol misuse, smoking, and inhalant use, whereas Washington State students reported higher rates of marijuana use. Implications for conducting international comparisons are discussed.

Risk and protective factors for adolescent substance use in Washington State, the United States and Victoria, Australia : a longitudinal study

Purpose
To compare the levels of risk and protective factors and the predictive influence of these factors on alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use over a 12-month follow-up period in Washington State in the United States and in Victoria, Australia.

Method
The study involved a longitudinal school-based survey of students drawn as a two-stage cluster sample recruited through schools, and administered in the years 2002 and 2003 in both states. The study used statewide representative samples of students in the seventh and ninth grades (n = 3,876) in Washington State and Victoria.

Results
Washington State students, relative to Victorian students, had higher rates of cannabis use but lower rates of alcohol and tobacco use at time 1. Levels of risk and protective factors showed few but important differences that contribute to the explanation of differences in substance use; Washington State students, relative to Victorian students, reported higher religiosity (odds ratio, .96 vs. .79) and availability of handguns (odds ratio, 1.23 vs. 1.18), but less favorable peer, community, and parental attitudes to substance use. The associations with substance use at follow-up are generally comparable, but in many instances were weaker in Washington State.

Conclusions
Levels of risk and protective factors and their associations with substance use at follow-up were mostly similar in the two states. Further high-quality longitudinal studies to establish invariance in the relations between risk and protective factors and substance use in adolescence across diverse countries are warranted.

Incidence and course of adolescent deliberate self-harm in Victoria, Australia, and Washington State

PURPOSE: There have been few longitudinal studies of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in adolescents. This cross-national longitudinal study outlines risk and protective factors for DSH incidence and persistence. METHODS: Seventh and ninth grade students (average ages 13 and 15 years) were recruited as state-representative cohorts, surveyed, and then followed up 12 months later (N = 3,876), using the same methods in Washington State and Victoria, Australia. The retention rate was 99% in both states at follow-up. A range of risk and protective factors for DSH were examined using multivariate analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of DSH in the past year was 1.53% in Grade 7 and .91% in Grade 9 for males and 4.12% and 1.34% for Grade 7 and Grade 9 females, respectively, with similar rates across states. In multivariate analyses, incident DSH was lower in Washington State (odds ratio [OR] = .67; 95% confidence interval [CI] = .45-1.00) relative to Victoria 12 months later. Risk factors for incident DSH included being female (OR = 1.93; CI = 1.35-2.76), high depressive symptoms (OR = 3.52; CI = 2.37-5.21), antisocial behavior (OR = 2.42; CI = 1.46-4.00), and lifetime (OR = 1.85; CI = 1.11-3.08) and past month (OR = 2.70; CI = 1.57-4.64) alcohol use relative to never using alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Much self-harm in adolescents resolves over the course of 12 months. Young people who self-harm have high rates of other health risk behaviors associated with family and peer risks that may all be targets for preventive intervention.

Gathering for God : George Brown in Oceania

Combining 'the gathering of artefacts with the gathering of souls', George Brown was a key figure in the Christian, and especially the Wesleyan Methodist, history of nineteenth-century Oceania. Using his life as a case study, Helen Bethea Gardner examines the role of Christian missionaries in the Pacific Islands. Brown's career (1860-1908) spanned one of the most tumultuous political periods in the South Pacific, as one by one islands were colonised by imperial nations. He was one of the most politically engaged of all missionaries, encouraging colonial rule in the Pacific by America, Britain, Germany and, eventually, Australia and New Zealand. Originally from the north of England, he worked as a missionary in Samoa from 1860, moving to the Bismarck Archipelago (now Papua New Guinea) in 1875. From the 1880s until his retirement in 1907, he worked in Sydney as the general secretary of the Australasian Methodist Overseas Mission. Gathering for God examines Brown's missionary letters, journals and journalism, exploring how he attracted Pacific Islanders to Christian teachings, analysing his leadership during an armed attack on New Britain villages accused of cannibalism, and looking at his work in the new discipline of anthropology. He was a major collector of artefacts (his collection is now in the Osaka Museum) and photographer of Pacific peoples (his collection is in the Australian Museum).

Photography and christian mission: George Brown`s images of the New Britain mission 1875-80

In 1875, Methodist George Brown arrived in the Bismarck Archipelago to establish the New Britain Mission. Based in the Duke of York Islands, Brown's territory covered New Ireland and the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain. The mission was one of the first to be photographed from its inception. The Australian Museum holds 96 plates from the first five years of the mission. Brown's photographs are a visual record of conditions and peoples of the time. Analysed in relation to Brown's writings they are indicative of the relationships and bonds established through photography both in the mission field and across wider scientific and church audiences. The methodology employed here also challenges the kinds of interpretations of photographs that can arise from visual analyses relying solely on the caption and the posing of the subject.

Puberty and the onset of substance use and abuse

Objective: Substance abuse remains one of the major threats to adolescent health in Western cultures. The study aim was to ascertain the extent of association between pubertal development and early adolescent substance use.

Methods: The design was a cross-sectional survey of 10- to 15-year-old subjects in the states of Washington, United States, and Victoria, Australia. Participants were 5769 students in grades 5, 7, and 9, drawn as a 2-stage cluster sample in each state, and the questionnaire was completed in the school classrooms. The main outcomes of the study were lifetime substance use (tobacco use, having been drunk, or cannabis use), recent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, or cannabis use in the previous month), and substance abuse (daily smoking, any binge drinking, drinking at least weekly, or cannabis use at least weekly).

Results: The odds of lifetime substance use were almost twofold higher (odds ratio [OR]: 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–2.1) in midpuberty (Tanner stage III) and were threefold higher (OR: 3.1; 95% CI: 2.4–4.2) in late puberty (Tanner stage IV/V), after adjustment for age and school grade level. Recent substance use was moderately higher (OR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0–1.9) in midpuberty and more than twofold higher (OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.7–3.3) in late puberty. The odds of substance abuse were twofold higher (OR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.2–3.2) in midpuberty and more than threefold higher (OR: 3.5; 95% CI: 2.2–5.4) in late puberty. Reporting most friends as substance users was more likely in the later stages of pubertal development, a relationship that accounted in part for the association found between later pubertal stage and substance abuse.

Conclusions: Pubertal stage was associated with higher rates of substance use and abuse independent of age and school grade level. Early maturers had higher levels of substance use because they entered the risk period at an earlier point than did late maturers. The study findings support prevention strategies and policies that decrease recreational substance use within the peer social group in the early teens.

Pubertal stage and deliberate self-harm in adolescents

Objective: To ascertain the association between pubertal stage and deliberate self-harm.

Method: Cross-sectional survey of 12- to 15-year-olds in 300 secondary schools in the U.S. state of Washington in February-April 2002 and the Australian state of Victoria in June-August 2002. A total of 3,332 students in grades 7 and 9 provided complete data on episodes of deliberate self-harm in the previous 12 months and pubertal stage. Pubertal stage was assessed with the Pubertal Development Scale.

Results: The prevalence of deliberate self-harm was 3.7% with a more than twofold higher rate in females. Late puberty was associated with a more than fourfold higher rate of self-harm (odds ratio 4.6, 95% confidence interval 1.5-14) after adjustment for age and school grade level. In contrast age had a protective association (odds ratio 0.7, confidence interval 0.4-1.0). The sharpest rises in prevalence across puberty were for self-laceration and self-poisoning in females. Higher rates of depressive symptoms, frequent alcohol use, and initiation of sexual activity largely accounted for the association between self-harm and pubertal stage in multivariate models.

Conclusions: Puberty is associated with changes in the form and frequency of self-harm. For adolescents with a gap between puberty and brain development, risk factors such as early sexual activity and substance abuse may be particularly potent.

Rates of student-reported antisocial behavior, school suspensions, and arrests in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States

Background: Few methodologically rigorous international comparisons of student-reported antisocial behavior have been conducted. This paper examines whether there are differences in the frequency of both antisocial behavior and societal responses to antisocial behavior in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States. These 2 states were chosen due to their similarities on sociodemographic characteristics and their differences in policy frameworks around problem behavior including antisocial behavior and substance use.

Methods: State representative samples of students (N = 5769) in school grades 5, 7, and 9 in Victoria and Washington State completed a modified version of the Communities That Care self-report survey of behavior and societal responses to behavior. Chi-square analyses compared frequencies of antisocial behavior, school suspensions, and police arrests in the 2 states. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for each outcome measure to examine the effect of state, controlling for sample design, clustering of students within schools, age, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity.

Results: Few state differences in student-reported antisocial behavior were found, although frequencies varied across behavior type and grade level. Differences in societal responses were observed across grade levels with grade 5 Washington students reporting higher rates of school suspension. Older Washington students reported more arrests.

Conclusions: Rates of student antisocial behavior appear similar in these 2 states in Australia and the United States. However, youth in the United States relative to Australia may experience greater societal consequences for problem behavior. Further research is required to examine the impact of these consequences on subsequent behavior.

Sir George Simpson : 19th century fur trade governor and precursor of systematic management

Purpose – Sir George Simpson, the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) from 1821 to his death in 1860, was the subject of numerous biographical works that described various facets of the man including his managerial abilities, literary prowess, physical stamina, abundant energy, extensive art collection and ethnological specimens. Two related aspects of his outstanding management style have been overlooked: the genesis of his management style and where it can be placed in the evolution of management practices during the 19th century.

Design/methodology/approach – Primary data from the Hudson's Bay Company archives plus secondary sources.

Findings – Simpson's management abilities came from his grammar school education and his apprenticeship to a counting house. More importantly, it can be attributed to his association with his mentor Andrew Wedderburn, his dedication to the HBC, and his high level of physical and intellectual energy. His information intensive management style was also a significant precursor to systematic management, which occurred later in the 19th century.

Research limitations/implications – Future research should examine other examples of the evolution of management during the 19th century, particularly the transition from sub-unit accountability to systematic management.

Originality/value – The paper emphasizes the importance of managers in making management systems work.

A cross-national comparison of school drug policies in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia

Using mail survey data collected from primary and secondary school administrators in Washington State, United States, and in Victoria, Australia, this study compared aspects of the school drug policy environment in the 2 states. Documented substance-use policies were prevalent in Washington and Victoria but less prevalent in primary schools, especially in Victoria. Victorian school policy-setting processes were significantly more likely to involve teachers, parents, and students than processes in Washington schools. Consistent with expectations based on their respective national drug policy frameworks, school drug policies in Washington schools were more oriented toward total abstinence and more frequently enforced with harsh punishment (such as expulsion or calling law enforcement), whereas policies in Victorian schools were more reflective of harm-minimization principles. Within both states, however, schools more regularly used harsh punishment and remediation consequences for alcohol and illicit-drug violations compared to tobacco policy violations, which were treated more leniently. (J Sch Health. 2005;75(4):134-140)