Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110934

Kerry M. Green, PhD, Warren A. Rhodes, PhD, Jacquelyn Buckley, PhD, and Sandra Barrueco, PhD. Department of Mental Health, Prevention Research Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Room 810, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-0412, kgreen@jhsph.edu

The substance use progression process has many stages, including opportunity, initiation, experimentation, escalation, abuse, and dependence. The extent to which one uses and the nature of that use is influenced by numerous factors at each stage. Within the context of a longitudinal, epidemiologically defined sample, the current investigation explores risk and protective factors that influence the first opportunity to use marijuana and the progression process. We combine two lines of research that generally have been explored separately: correlational research on early-stage drug opportunity and longitudinal research on risk and protective factors for drug use. Although each line of research has contributed much towards understanding factors important to substance use progression, we know of no studies which have explored the influences on marijuana opportunity and initiation in a prospective study. This study will therefore use multivariate logistic regression to explore individual factors (gender, race, depression, perceived control, conduct problems, achievement, alcohol use, tobacco use), family factors (poverty, discipline, monitoring, rejection), peer factors (deviant behavior, attitudes towards drugs, drug use), and neighborhood factors (disadvantage, drug presence) that influence first opportunity to use compared to initiation of marijuana use among a cohort of mostly African American youth from Baltimore, Maryland (N=580) followed from first grade through 11th grade. Results suggest that the factors operate differently for boys and girls. We also found that key differences between predictors of an individual's opportunity to use marijuana and an individual's use of marijuana. Implications for prevention research and practice will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will (
• be knowledgeable of the individual, family, peer, and neighborhood risk factors of marijuana exposure and initiation among adolescents; (
• be able to articulate the role alcohol and tobacco use play in marijuana exposure and initiation; and (
• understand the importance of prevention efforts focusing on both opportunities to use marijuana, as well as marijuana initiation.

Keywords: Drug Use, Risk Factors

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.