Data indicate only limited support for DARE's impact on student drug use immediately following the intervention, and no support for either continued or emerging impact on drug use 1 or 2 yrs after receiving DARE instruction. Possible substantive and methodological explanations for the relative lack of DARE's effectiveness are discussed. Potential mediators, moderators, or independent effects in the relationship between parents' former and current cigarette use and their children's cigarette use. Ss were part of an ongoing randomized evaluation of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Project in Illinois, and the subset of data used was collected in 1991, when the youths were 6th-7th graders. Results of logistic regression provided the greatest support for the independent model, which suggests that the effect of parents' smoking and familial characteristics on adolescents' smoking are not linked.
Results also show that parents' former smoking is associated with adolescents' current smoking.
Significant family characteristics were family disunion and parents' awareness of their child's activities. Findings suggest that children may have the capability of storing memories of their parents' smoking, memories that influence their own smoking. Applied social network theory and analysis to examine whether adolescents who fill various social positions that characterize peer group structure differ in prevalence of current smoking. 1,092 9th graders in 1 school system named their 3 best friends, allowing the identification of each adolescent as clique member, clique liaison, or isolate. At 4 of 5 schools, the odds of being a current smoker were significantly higher for isolates than for clique members and liaisons.