RISK, PROTECTIVE, AOD KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND AOD BEHAVIOR - FACTORSASSOCIATED WITH CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-RISK YOUTH

Assessment of risk, protective, alcohol and other drug (AOD) knowledge , attitude, and AOD behavior of 1797 high-risk youth ages 12-18 who pa rticipated in the Community Youth Activity Program demonstration proje ct funded to 14 grantees was accomplished using the Knowledge, Attitud e, and Behavior instrument. Findings of three ANOVA and MANOVA models show that (a) males demonstrate more risk than females; (b) African Am ericans and Native Americans show higher protective levels than whites and Hispanics, (c) males, as grade level increases, report more AOD k nowledge them females, (d) males show more unhealthy attitudes than fe males, but as grade levels increase, attitudes improve for both males and females; (e) males report more AOD behavior than females, and both genders report increased usage as grade levels increase, and (f) prot ection level is directly related to AOD knowledge and attitude and inv ersely related to AOD behavior. Therefore, the more protection, the gr eater the AOD knowledge, the more positive the attitude, and the lower the risk of AOD behavior. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.