Child and Adolescent Drug Use: A Judgment and Information Processing Perspective to Health-Behavior Interventions

• NCJ Number: 112678
• Journal: Journal of Drug Education Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (1987) Pages: 295-313
• Author(s): G Cvetkovich; T C Earle; S P Schinke; L D Gilchrist; J E Trimble
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA 03277
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article analyzes judgment and information processing relevant to drug use by children and adolescents so as to improve information-based intervention programs designed either to postpone the initiation of drug use or to reduce the incidence of drug use.

Abstract

The analysis includes the development of a transactional model of human judgment applicable to the processing of drug-use information. The model holds that drug use and other health-related judgments consist of a continual processing of information based on organized images about the effects and consequences of various behaviors. Two aspects of judgment that should be given special attention are the personal relevance of drug-related hazard information and the manner in which potential drug use situations are framed by the individual. An effective drug information program should provide target subjects with an increased ability to process drug information on the basis of more 'expert' drug-related images. It should also reduce judgments of personal invulnerability to harmful physical, psychological, and social effects and develop a realistic assessment of personal drug risk and knowledge of risk-mitigation strategies. 111 references.