There are a host of potentially risky behaviors in which youth engage, which have important implications for both their … well being as youth and their life prospects. The past decade has seen dramatic shifts in the intensity with which youths … pursue these risky activities: for example, youth homicide fell by 40%; teen births decline by 20%; youth smoking rose by 33 …

determinants of the youth smoking decision. We explore four aspects of this decision. First, we consider the demographic correlates … youth; indeed, increasingly over time youth smoking is taking place among white, suburban youth with college educated … 25 and 50% of the rise in youth smoking in the 1990s will persist into adulthood for this cohort; rough calculations …

school students are participating in these programs. The first data source, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997 …

have declined. And for every youth suicide completion, there are nearly 400 suicide attempts. This paper examines the … dynamics of youth suicide attempts and completions, and reaches three conclusions. First, we suggest that many suicide attempts … by youths can be viewed as a strategic action on the part of the youth to resolve conflicts within oneself or with others …

This paper contains the first estimates of the price sensitivity of the prevalence of youth marijuana use. Survey data … significantly to the trends in youth marijuana use between 1982 and 1998, particularly during the contraction in use from 1982 to … 1992. Similarly, changes in youth perceptions of the harms associated with regular marijuana use had a substantial impact …

Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort (NLSY79), exploiting the availability of repeated observations on young women (daughters) and of …

After steadily declining over the previous 15 years, youth smoking began to rise precipitously in 1992, and by 1997 had … policies on youth smoking in the 1990s, drawing on three separate data sets. I find that the most important policy determinant … of youth smoking, particularly among older teens, is prices. Prices are a significant and sizeable determinant of smoking …

unobserved characteristics. Data come from the National School-Based Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, which are nationally …