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The inverse relation between academic motivation and substance use has been well established, but the direction of the influence remains to be specified; two possible influences are the mediating and moderating effects of family relationships and self-esteem. In this study, investigators used General Estimating Equation (GEE) models based on data from four annual assessments of adolescents, 12 to 16 years of age. The adolescents' mothers were included in the study. Families were recruited from moderate-sized northwestern urban areas; 91.7 percent of the participants were Caucasian. The results suggest that substance use leads to a decrease in academic motivation one year later. However, the data did not support a direct path of academic motivation to substance use, as researchers found mediating effects for alcohol use and moderating effects for cigarette and marijuana use for both males and females. A somewhat surprising result was that for boys and older girls, good family relationships increased the inverse effect of academic motivation on marijuana use. This may be due to the additional pressures that parents from families with good relationships place on their children for academic success. Eight tables present the statistical summaries for this study. Contains 24 references. (RJM)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert