Drawing data from the first year of a longitudinal study of 508 families with focal adolescents aged 11 to 13 years and their older siblings (14 to 18 years), the investigators examined the influence of older siblings' drug-using attitudes and behaviors, in comparison with parental and peer drug-using attitudes and behaviors, on focal adolescents' nonuse and use of substances. Older siblings are frequently a source of drugs and use substances with their young siblings, though peers remain the primary source and the most frequent coursers. For most substances, frequency of use was predicted by older sibling and peer substance use, each after controlling for the other. Parental drug use was found to be minimal in comparison to older siblings and peers. Findings relative to the potentially important role of older siblings in influencing their younger siblings' drug-using behavior are discussed.

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Building on previous research that provides the basis for treating the willingness to seek help as a stable attitudinal set, present in varying degrees in differentpersons, and predictive of behavior, this study addresses two questions: First, to what extent is the willing ness to seek help associated with culture? Second, how do the factors influencing willingness to seek help differ across cultures? Young adults in Hungary, Israel, and the United States (N = 384) provided sociodemographic information and filled out a questionnaire designed to measure their willingness to seek help. The results of the analyses indicate differences between the three countries in the overall willingness to seek help and in the variables predictive of the willingness to seek help. These differences are attributed to differential features of the cultures from which the three subsamples were drawn.

This study examines ERAN, Israel's unique national telephone helpline. We consider the role of the helpline in providing social support for single and married callers, an issue that has received little attention in the literature. We also examine how helpline use in Israel compares with what studies have shown about helpline use in other countries. Focusing on the issue of social support, the study compares married and single calls in their utilization of ERAN. The specific research questions were: (1) what kinds of problems do callers present?(2) what kinds of help do callers request?.Helplines have become an established component of many communities' social services. Their popularity stems from the helplines' accessibility, an increased willingness of people to seek help in times of stress, declining opportunities for intimate relationships, and, as some suggest, a preference for a 'quick fix' over traditional therapies (Goud, 1985). Ouchi and Johnson (1978) attribute the increase of helplines to the weakening of traditional sources of social support -the family, church, and community.