title: Student drug testing and positive school climates: testing the relation between two school characteristics and drug use behavior in a longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fostering positive school climates and student drug testing have been separately proposed as strategies to reduce student drug use in high schools. To assess the promise of these strategies, the present research examined whether positive school climates and/or student drug testing successfully predicted changes in youth substance use over a 1-year follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two waves of panel data from a sample of 361 high school students, assessed 1 year apart, were analyzed. Changes in reported initiation and escalation in frequency of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use as a function of perceived student drug testing and positive school climates were analyzed, while we held constant prior substance use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Perceived student drug testing was not associated with changes in substance use, whereas perceived positive school climates were associated with a reduction in cigarette and marijuana initiation and a reduction in escalation of frequency of cigarette use at 1-year follow-up. However, perceived positive school climates were not associated with a reduction in alcohol use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Student drug testing appears to be less associated with substance use than positive school climates. Nevertheless, even favorable school climates may not be able to influence the use of alcohol, which appears to be quite normative in this age group.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, Health Promotion Department, School of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Sznitman
authors.affiliation: Adolescent Communication and Health Communication Institutes, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Romer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult