1976 to 26% in 2014, with similar trends among 8th- and 10th-grade students. Abstinence from cigarettes and alcohol increased dramatically during the study period, while abstinence of marijuana and other illicit substances increased only slightly and, in the case of marijuana, have fallen from peak levels in the 1990s. Students who were male, African American, or reported higher levels of religious involvement were significantly more likely to report lifetime abstinence. Lower odds of reporting lifetime abstinence were noted among students with low grade point average, past-month truancy, employment during the school year, and living in a single-parent household.

These findings are limited by self report bias. True prevalence may be underestimated because adolescents who were not in school to take the survey and those who were missing data for(aORs) for lifetime abstinence from all substance use were calculated using 2014 data for several variables including sex, race, parents in household, parental education, school type, truancy, grade point average, religiosity, and hours worked per week.

The percentage of 12th-graders reporting lifetime abstinence from substance use rose from 5% in 1976 to 26% in 2014. No current (past 30 day) substance use was reported by 23% of seniors in 1976, which rose to 52% in 2014. While prevalence of alcohol use and cigarette use followed these trends, lifetime abstinence from marijuana among 12th-graders rose only slightly from 47% in 1976 to 56% in 2014, with a peak of 67% in 1992. After controlling for all other variables, those associated with higher odds of reporting lifetime abstinence included male gender