title: Encouraging the Disuse of Illicit Drugs Among At-Risk Youth.
abstract: Youth at risk of illicit drug abuse and other delinquent acts are the target of social work services. Preventing or discouraging the use of illicit drugs among at-risk youth is a long-standing practical and research concern. For this reason, the preventive function of courage is a research gap the present study seeks to fill. The study collected data from 169 at-risk youths and their social workers with two-wave panel surveys. Results show that courage in Wave 1 presented a strong negative effect on illicit drug use in Wave 2 in the youth, controlling for illicit drug use in Wave 1 and background characteristics. Moreover, the negative effect was stronger when Wave 1 drug use was more likely. These results imply the helpfulness of encouraging at-risk youth to gather courage to resist the temptation to use illicit drugs.
authors.affiliation: City University of Hong Kong, China ssjacky@cityu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Chau-kiu
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Steven Sek-yum
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ngai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D066279:Courage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D000068217:Social Workers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs
keywords: at-risk youth; courage; illicit drug disuse; illicit drug use; outreaching social work