Research In Action
Research In Action
Read our latest roundup of notable child injury prevention news articles from August 2026.
Alcohol, Not Cocaine, Remains the Top Campus Substance-Use Risk
Despite headline-grabbing cocaine busts, national data show illicit drug use among young adults declining while alcohol remains the leading cause of substance-related death in this population, killing roughly 4,000 Americans under 21 annually, underscoring binge drinking as the priority target for campus injury-prevention efforts.
Community Firearm Violence Tied to Diverging Youth Suicide Trends in Philadelphia
Post-pandemic youth suicide risk fell in low firearm-violence Philadelphia neighborhoods but rose in violence-affected ones, disproportionately among Black and Medicaid-insured youth, implicating community firearm exposure as an independent driver of mental health disparities.
Zero Driver Deaths: IIHS Highlights Vehicles With Perfect Safety Records
New IIHS driver death rate data (2021–2024) show more than half of the riskiest vehicle models are small cars, sports cars, or muscle cars, while 16 vehicles — mostly SUVs — recorded zero driver deaths. The same report's new "other-driver" metric found large pickups pose the highest risk to occupants of other vehicles in a crash.
Most Pediatric Poisoning ER Visits Avoidable
A Rutgers study of 348 NJ pediatric poisoning ED visits found roughly 65% likely didn't need emergency care and could have been managed at home with a poison control call first. Researchers say routing avoidable cases to the phone line could cut costs and ED burden nationally.
CNN reports that child drowning deaths, the leading cause of death for U.S. children ages 1–4, have risen since the pandemic after decades of decline, partly linked to disrupted swim-lesson access. Formal swim lessons cut drowning risk substantially but don't eliminate it without continued supervision.
