This study focuses on the emerging adulthood developmental stage, considered a critical period for addressing maladaptive digital behaviors. From the perspective of allostatic load, anxiety has been addressed as a stress-related psychological variable, whereas mindfulness has been examined as a factor associated with reduced vulnerability to stress-related processes. The present study examined the association between mindfulness and smartphone addiction through anxiety and attentional control. Accordingly, controlling for age, gender, daily smartphone usage, and smartphone checking frequency, a serial mediation model was used to examine the associations between mindfulness, anxiety, self-reported attentional control, and smartphone addiction among university students. A total of 319 college students (237 females [74.3
The FERYA (Families Networked and Active) programme is a community- and environment-oriented intervention designed to strengthen the role of family organizations in the prevention of addictive behaviours and related risks, with a focus on leisure-time contexts. This practitioner narrative draws on qualitative and quantitative information collected during the programme’s implementation in several Spanish regions between 2021 and 2024. The article examines key obstacles faced by family organizations when acting as agents of community prevention, including limitations in organizational capacity, leadership, sustained participation, evidence-based prevention knowledge, and external institutional support. The findings highlight both the potential of family organizations to contribute to community and environmental prevention and the structural conditions that constrain their long-term engagement. This experience illustrates the complexity of implementing bottom-up, systemic, multicomponent prevention approaches and emphasizes the relevance of capacity building, co-production with professionals, and supportive policy environments to enhance the sustainability of community-based prevention initiatives.
Background: We investigated whether exposures to opportunities for alcohol and cannabis use and simultaneous use moderate associations of descriptive norms and perceived risk with these behaviors such that substance use is lower for adolescents and young adults who report fewer opportunities regardless of their predispositions to engage in them. Method: Data were obtained using online surveys administered in 2023-24 to 1,014 adolescents and young adults (ages 15- to 20 years) in 40 California, USA, cities. They were asked how often they had an opportunity to engage in alcohol, cannabis, and simultaneous use in five different contexts in the past year, even if they chose not do so. They were also asked about past year frequency and typical quantity of alcohol and cannabis use and frequency of heavy drinking and simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis. Additional questions asked about descriptive norms (friends’ use), perceived risk for each substance use behavior, and demographic characteristics. Results: Multi-level mixed effects regression analyses accounting for nesting of participants within cities and for demographic characteristics showed that exposure to fewer opportunities for cannabis, alcohol, and simultaneous use was associated with reduced use. Consistent with our hypotheses, less use was observed among those who were more and less favorably predisposed to engage in these behaviors. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions limiting retail and social availability of alcohol and cannabis or constraining opportunities for use, can reduce alcohol and cannabis use and co-use among youth regardless of their predispositions to engage in these behaviors.
Adolescents are vulnerable to sociocultural influences related to body image and appearance, which may increase the risk of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) and other image- and performance-enhancing drug (IPED) use and subsequent adverse health outcomes. School-based prevention initiatives targeting AAS use and its associated health risks may prevent the initiation and use of these substances among adolescents by educating them about the dangers, adverse effects, and risks of AAS use while promoting healthier choices. This scoping review aimed to map the characteristics, intervention components, and reported outcomes of school-based prevention programs targeting AAS and other IPED use among adolescents. Peer-reviewed English-language studies evaluating school-based prevention programs addressing AAS and IPEDs among adolescents were included. Searches were conducted through Scopus, Embase (Elsevier), CINAHL (EBSCOhost), Web of Science, ProQuest, MEDLINE (Ovid), and PsycINFO, covering all eligible records published up to September 2025. Data were charted to map study characteristics, intervention types and delivery features, populations, and outcome domains assessed, with findings synthesised descriptively in line with scoping review methodology. Seventeen studies were included. Interventions mostly involved classroom-based education (70.6
In recent years, both land-based and online gambling have become increasingly normalised and socially accepted activities. Despite legal restrictions aimed at preventing underage access, evidence confirms concerning prevalence rates among adolescents. Over the past three decades, preventive programmes have been developed to reduce the incidence of problem gambling, alongside several systematic reviews. This umbrella review synthesises and critically contrasts the findings of previous reviews. A systematic search was conducted across seven databases (ProQuest, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL) and the ClinicalTrials.gov registry in line with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Reviews evaluating adolescent gambling prevention using behavioural, severity, knowledge, risk-perception or attitude outcomes were eligible. Methodological quality and overlap were assessed using AMSTAR-2 and CCA. Seven systematic reviews and meta-analyses were identified, comprising 38 primary-study entries in the overlap matrix. These entries generated 107 review–study inclusions (CCA = 30.26
