Baby bottles and family rattles. Children and substance abuse

Research shows that problem behaviors manifested early tend to persist into later life. Problem drinking does not necessarily commit the young adolescent to a life course of this behavior, but it does alter the probabilities. Conversely, early abstinence is a strong predictor of later healthful behavior. An important observation is that alcohol and other drug use tends to decrease along with smoking decreases. Young adolescents tend to believe that most of their peers engage in a particular type of behavior whether that is the actual case or not. There is a tendency across populations of adolescents to overestimate such behaviors by a factor of six or eight. In one study, school children estimated that about two-thirds of their peers smoked while the actual figure was about one-tenth. Adolescents tend to have weak orientation to the future, especially in regard to consequences of risk-taking behavior. College-bound adolescents tend to have a longer view of the future than those who do not pursue college, but in general adolescents think, "It can't happen to me," or, "It's so far off that I just can't think about it." They are focused on the here and now. Many youngsters when they think about it have a dismal view of the future. They are doubtful about their own ability to influence events in ways that build toward a rewarding life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)