# Monitoring the Future: Drug Use and Lifestyles of American Youth

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $5,806,936

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This application seeks a five-year continuation of the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, an ongoing
epidemiological and etiological research and reporting project begun in 1975. In addition to being a basic
research study, MTF has become one of the nation's most relied upon sources of information on emerging trends
in illicit drug, alcohol, and tobacco use among American adolescents, college students, and adults. Nationally
representative samples of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students (about 42,000 students per year) will be surveyed
annually from 2022/23 to 2026/27. A companion panel application seeks continuation of follow-up surveys of
both past and future high school graduates at modal ages 19–30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and, new to this cycle,
age 65. The study's cohort-sequential longitudinal design permits the measurement and differentiation of three
types of change—age (developmental), period (historical), and cohort. Each has different determinants, and MTF
finds all three types of change occur for most drugs. Factors that may explain historical trends and cohort
differences also are monitored. MTF is designed to document the developmental history and consequences of
drug use and related attitudes from adolescence through the retirement years, and to determine the individual
and contextual characteristics and social role transitions that contribute to change and stability in both use and
related attitudes. This work will be extended to new years, cohorts, and ages under this main application and the
companion follow-up application. The study will examine the importance of many other hypothesized
psychological, behavioral, and social determinants of drug use (including attitudes and beliefs, counter-
advertising, role-modeling, and access), as well as a range of potential consequences (including physical and
psychological health, status attainment, role performance, and symptoms of substance use disorders). Impacts
of policy changes will be examined, including new FDA policies aimed at the reduction of teen vaping. The study's
very broad measurement covers (a) initiation, use, and cessation for over 50 categories and subcategories of licit
and illicit drugs, including alcohol and tobacco; (b) attitudes and beliefs about many of them, including perceived
risk of harm, disapproval, and perceived availability; (c) other behaviors and individual characteristics (health
difficulties, delinquency, school performance, plans, aspirations, etc.); and (d) aspects of key social environments
(home, work, school) and social role statuses, experiences, and transitions. Results will continue to elucidate
drug use from adolescence through adulthood—including the introduction of new drugs—with major
implications for policy, research, treatment, and prevention agendas.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10295339
- **Project number:** 2R01DA001411-48
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard A Miech
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $5,806,936
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1975-06-28 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10295339

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10295339, Monitoring the Future: Drug Use and Lifestyles of American Youth (2R01DA001411-48). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10295339. Licensed CC0.

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