Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Biography
Dr. Miech is a co-Investigator of the NIDA-funded Monitoring the Future study. He received his Ph.D. degree in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MPH degree from Johns Hopkins University. His work focuses on trends in substance use, with an emphasis on disentangling how these trends vary by age, historical period, and birth cohort membership. Other research interests include identification of the factors that widen or narrow disparities in substance use over historical time, as well as the causes and consequences of substance use over the life course.
Projects
Funded Research
- High-intensity drinking and related consequences: Daily data from a national sample aged 19 to 22
- Monitoring the Future: A Cohort-Sequential Panel Study of Drug Use, Ages 19-60
- Monitoring the Future: Drug Use and Lifestyles of American Youth
- Monitoring the Future: Drug Use and Lifestyles of American Youth
Publications
- Miech, Richard A.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M. (2019). The national prevalence of adolescent nicotine use in 2017: Estimates taking into account student reports of substances vaped. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 9, 100159.
- Miech, Richard A.; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2019). Increasing marijuana use for black adolescents in the United States: A test of competing explanations. Addictive Behaviors, 93, 59-64.
- Keyes, Katherine M.; Rutherford, Caroline; Miech, Richard A. (2019). Historical trends in the grade of onset and sequence of cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use among adolescents from 1976-2016: implications for “Gateway” patterns in adolescence. Drug and alcohol dependence, 194, 51-58.
- Patrick, Megan E.; Couper, Mick P.; Laetz, Virginia B.; Schulenberg, John E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Miech, Richard A. (2018). A Sequential Mixed Mode Experiment in the U.S. National Monitoring the Future Study. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 6(1), 72-97.
- Evans-Polce, Rebecca J.; Patrick, Megan E.; Lanza, Stephanie T.; Miech, Richard A.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2018). Reasons for Vaping among U.S. 12th Graders. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(4), 457-462.
- Miech, Richard A.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M. (2017). Prevalence and Attitudes Regarding Marijuana Use Among Adolescents Over the Past Decade. Pediatrics, 140(6), e20170982.
- Soneji, S.; Barrington-Trimis, J. L.; Wills, T. A.; Leventhal, A. M.; Unger, J. B.; Gibson, L. A.; Yang, J.; Primack, B. A.; Andrews, J. A.; Miech, Richard A.; Spindle, T. R.; Dick, D. M.; Eissenberg, T.; Hornik, R. C.; Dang, R.; Sargent, J. D. (2017). Association between initial use of e-cigarettes and subsequent cigarette smoking among adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 171(8), 788-797.
- Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E.; Patrick, Megan E.; Miech, Richard A. (2017). Monitoring the Future National Survey Results: HIV/AIDS Risk & Protective Behaviors among Adults Ages 21 to 40 in the U.S., 2004-2016. Ann Arbor, MI:Institute for Social Research.
- Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Patrick, Megan E.; Miech, Richard A. (2017). Risk is still relevant: Time-varying associations between perceived risk and marijuana use among US 12th grade students from 1991 to 2016. Addictive Behaviors, 74, 13-19.
- Patrick, Megan E.; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; Miech, Richard A.; Schulenberg, John E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2017). Age-Specific Prevalence of Binge and High-Intensity Drinking Among U.S. Young Adults: Changes from 2005 to 2015. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research, 41(7), 1319-1328.
- Patrick, Megan E.; Terry-McElrath, Yvonne M.; Miech, Richard A.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Schulenberg, John E.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2017). Current High-Intensity Drinking Among Eighth and Tenth Grade Students in the U.S. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 53(6), 904-908.
- Miech, Richard A.; Patrick, Megan E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2017). The Influence of College Attendance on Risk for Marijuana Initiation in the United States: 1977 to 2015. American Journal of Public Health, 107(6), 996-1002.
- Miech, Richard A.; Patrick, Megan E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2017). E-cigarette use as a predictor of cigarette smoking: results from a 1-year follow-up of a national sample of 12th grade students. Tobacco control, 26, e106-e111.
- Miech, Richard A.; Patrick, Megan E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D. (2017). What are kids vaping? Results from a national survey of US adolescents. Tobacco control, 26, 386-391.
- Patrick, Megan E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Kloska, Deborah D.; Schulenberg, John E.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Miech, Richard A.; Bachman, Jerald G. (2016). Novel psychoactive substance use by US adolescents: Characteristics associated with use of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones. Drug and Alcohol Review, 35(5), 586-590.
- Patrick, Megan E.; Miech, Richard A.; Carlier, Carola; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Schulenberg, John E. (2016). Self-reported reasons for vaping among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the US: Nationally-representative results. Drug and alcohol dependence, 165, 275-278.
- Miech, Richard A.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Patrick, Megan E. (2016). E-Cigarettes and the Drug Use Patterns of Adolescents. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 18(5), 654-659.
- Bauldry, Shawn; Shanahan, Michael J.; Macmillan, Ross; Miech, Richard A.; Boardman, Jason D.; Dean, Danielle O.; Cole, Veronica (2016). Parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood. Social science research, 58, 227-242.
- London, Andrew S.; Herd, Pamela; Miech, Richard A.; Wilmoth, Janet M. (2016). The Influence of Men’s Military Service on Smoking Across the Life Course. Journal of Drug Issues.
- Keyes, Katherine M.; Jager, Justin; Hamilton, Ava; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Miech, Richard A. and Schulenberg, John E. (2015). National Multi-Cohort Time Trends in Adolescent Risk Preference and the Relation with Substance use and Problem Behavior from 1976 to 2011. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 155, 267-274.
- Miech, Richard A.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Bachman, Jerald G.; Schulenberg, John E. and Patrick, Megan E. (2015). Trends in use of Marijuana and Attitudes Toward Marijuana among Youth before and After Decriminalization: The Case of California 2007–2013. International Journal of Drug Policy, 26(4), 336-344.
- Miech, Richard A.; Shanahan, M. J.; Boardman, J. and Bauldry, S. (2015). The Sequencing of a College Degree during the Transition to Adulthood: Implications for Obesity. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 56(2), 281-295.
- Patrick, Megan E.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Kloska, Deborah D.; Schulenberg, John E.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; Miech, Richard A. and Bachman, Jerald G. (2015). Novel Psychoactive Substance use by US Adolescents: Characteristics Associated with use of Synthetic Cannabinoids and Synthetic Cathinones. Drug and Alcohol Review.
- Miech, Richard A.; Johnston, Lloyd D.; O'Malley, Patrick M.; Keyes, Katherine M. and Heard, Kennon (2015). Prescription Opioids in Adolescence and Future Opioid Misuse. Pediatrics, 136(5), e1169-e1177.
- Keyes, K. M. and Miech, Richard A. (2013). Age, Period, and Cohort Effects in Heavy Episodic Drinking in the US from 1985 to 2009. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 132(1-2), 140-148.
- Miech, Richard A.; Koester, Stephen and Holliman, BrookeDorsey (2013). Towards an Explanation of the Recent Increase in Drug-Related Mortality. 129-149. In Sanders,Bill; Thomas,Yonette F. and Griffin Deeds,Bethany (Ed.), Crime, HIV and Health: Intersections of Criminal Justice and Public Health Concerns. Springer Netherlands:Drodrecht.
- Rogers, Richard G.; Krueger, Patrick M.; Miech, Richard A.; Lawrence, Elizabeth M. and Kemp, Robert (2013). Nondrinker Mortality Risk in the United States. Population Research and Policy Review, 32(3), 325-352.
- Miech, Richard A.; London, Andrew S.; Wilmoth, Janet M. and Koester, Stephen (2013). The Effects of the Military’s Antidrug Policies Over the Life Course: The Case of Past-Year Hallucinogen use. Subst use Misuse, 48(10), 837-853.
- Miech, Richard A.; Bohnert, A. H., K. and Boardman, J. (2013). Increasing use of Nonmedical Analgesics among Younger Cohorts in the United States: A Birth Cohort Effect. The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 52(1), 35-41.
- Keyes, Katherine M. and Miech, Richard A. (2013). Commentary on Dawson Et?Al. (2013): Drink to Your Health? Maybe Not. Addiction, 108(4), 723-724.
- Bauldry, Shawn; Shanahan, Michael J.; Boardman, Jason D.; Miech, Richard A. and Macmillan, Ross (2012). A Life Course Model of Self-Rated Health through Adolescence and Young Adulthood. Social Science & Medicine, 75(7), 1311-1320.
- Boardman, J. D.; Alexander, K. B.; Miech, Richard A.; Macmillan, R. and Shanahan, Michael, J. (2012). The Association between Parent’s Health and the Educational Attainment of their Children. Social Science & Medicine, 75(5), 932-939.
- Miech, Richard A. and Koester, Stephen (2012). Trends in U.S., Past-Year Marijuana use from 1985 to 2009: An age–period–cohort Analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 124(3), 259-267.
- Miech, Richard A.; Pampel, Fred; Kim, Jinyoung and Rogers, Richard G. (2011). The Enduring Association between Education and Mortality: The Role of Widening and Narrowing Disparities. American Sociological Review, 76(56), 913-934.
- Miech, Richard A.; Koester, Steve and Dorsey-Holliman, Brook (2011). Increasing US Mortality due to Accidental Poisoning: The Role of the Baby Boom Cohort. Addiction, 106(4), 806-815.
- Bohnert, A. S. and Miech, Richard A. (2010). Changes in the Association of Drug use with Depressive Disorders in Recent Decades: The Case of Cocaine. Substance use & Misuse, 45(10), 1452-1462.
- Kim, J. and Miech, Richard A. (2009). The Black-White Difference in Age Trajectories of Functional Health Over the Life Course. Social Science & Medicine, 36(2), 126-132.
- Walrath, Christine; Garraza, LucasGodoy; Stephens, Robert; Azur, Melissa; Miech, Richard A. and Leaf, Philip (2009). Trends in Characteristics of Children Served by the Children’s Mental Health Initiative: 1994–2007. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 36(6), 361-373.
- Sutin, Angelina R.; Costa, Paul T.; Miech, Richard A. and Eaton, William W. (2009). Personality and Career Success: Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations. European Journal of Personality, 23(2), 71-84.
- Miech, Richard A.; Kim, J.; McConnell, C. and Hamman, Richard, F. (2009). A Growing Disparity in Diabetes-Related Mortality U.S. Trends, 1989-2005. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(2), 126-132.
- Miech, Richard A.; Azur, Melissa; Dusablon, Tracy; Jowers, Keri; Goldstein, Amy; Stuart, Elizabeth; Walrath, Christine and Leaf, Philip (2008). The Potential to Reduce Mental Health Disparities through the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 35(3), 253-264.
- Miech, Richard A. (2008). The Formation of a Socioeconomic Health Disparity: The Case of Cocaine use during the 1980s and 1990s. Journal of Health & Social Behavior, 49(3), 352-366.
- Link, B. G.; Phelan, J. C.; Miech, Richard A. and Westin, E. L. (2008). The Resources that Matter: Fundamental Social Causes of Health Disparities and the Challenge of Intelligence. Journal of Health & Social Behavior, 49(1), 72-91.