# Social networks and drug use among low-income students in high-performing schools

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2021 · $572,902

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Social experiments provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of real-world policies and programs. Previous
experiments have demonstrated that education interventions substantially improve health and other life outcomes, such as
incarceration and pregnancy, but only when intervention occurs during early childhood. However, recent research suggests
there may be a dose-response effect. Thus, education interventions among adolescents may improve health, but requires
longer-term follow up. We propose a renewal of our NIDA-funded R01, the RISE UP Study, which used the admission
lottery of high-performing public charter high schools to study comparable cohorts of students exposed to high- and low-
performing schools. In 2013 and 2014, we recruited 1270 adolescents who had applied to one or more high performing
charter schools in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Subjects completed baseline surveys in 8th grade after the
high school admission lottery, and then annual surveys through 11th grade. Lottery “winners” and “losers” are comparable
in study retention rates (87% at 3 years), demographics, grade point average in 8th grade, and baseline marijuana and alcohol
use. After 3 years, lottery winners have substantial improvement in intermediate school outcomes (lower rates of truancy
and switching schools, which is a risk factor for dropping out) better school experiences (more supportive teachers, less
chaotic school environments, more positive behavioral culture), and lower rates of substance use (risky marijuana use, 30-
day marijuana use, and risky alcohol use). Most of these differences were much larger or only occurred among boys.
The transition to adulthood is an important developmental period during which many individuals are completing their
education and making life choices about career, family, marriage, and substance use that will have a profound impact on
their future health and socioeconomic trajectory. We hypothesize that better high school education will affect health
behaviors and outcomes during this transition time as a result of higher educational attainment, improvement in
employment, and changes in social networks and neighborhoods after high school. Thus, the study aims are to follow the
RISE UP cohort through age 21 and examine the impact of exposure to a high performing school on substance use,
pregnancy, depression, obesity and other life events including employment, college matriculation and criminal arrests. We
will examine heterogeneity of the intervention effects by gender and length of exposure to rigorous school environments
(including college). We will also conduct exploratory analyses to determine if social networks and social-emotional factors
(self-efficacy, grit, hopelessness, and depression) mediate the effect of education on health. Findings from this research
have implications for how educational policies might be shaped to improve health, and specifically whether improving
public high schools c...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10141212
- **Project number:** 5R01DA033362-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** MITCHELL David WONG
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $572,902
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-06-15 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10141212

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10141212, Social networks and drug use among low-income students in high-performing schools (5R01DA033362-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10141212. Licensed CC0.

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