The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #41741

Rachel L. Abbott, MS¹, J. Don Chaney, MS¹, Stuart Usdan, PhD, CHES², and Barry Hunt, EdD³. (1) The Department of Health Science, The University of Alabama, Box 870311, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0311, 205-348-2486, abbot008@bama.ua.edu, (2) Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University, Box 6186, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (3) HPERS, Mississippi State University, Box 6186, Mississippi State, MS 39762

The purposes of this study were to: 1) explore ethnic variations in drug, tobacco, and alcohol use; and 2) examine relationships between substance use and social influence measures. A cross sectional lag design survey has been conducted with 9th and 10th grade Alabama students. The most recent sampling (N=1,812) was conducted in the spring of 2001, of which 47.4% (N=858) were Caucasian and 52.6% (N=954) were African-American. Chi square analyses were conducted on drug, tobacco, and alcohol consumption as well as grade of initiation of substance use. These findings show consistent patterns in which adolescents with lower levels of familial and social influences, or higher levels of peer influence, reported higher levels of substance use. Of those students who reported a low level of parental interest, 20% were heavy drug users (used on 10 or more occasions in the past month) compared to 4% of the students who reported a high level of parental interest. Differences by racial group were also seen on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use with Caucasian students reporting earlier grade of initiation on all substance use variables as compared to African American students (p < .01). The social influences tended to have more effect on Caucasian students when compared to African American students. School health education interventions and needs assessment activities must address social environment issues in addition to cultural diversity factors.

Learning Objectives:

• The learner will be able to identify social influences that promote/hinder adolescent substance use.
• The learner will understand how selected social influences may impact on ethnic substance abuse profiles.
• The learner will recognize the need for ecological perspectives and the need to intervene on multiple levels when dealing with school health issues.

Keywords: Drug Use, Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.