Drug Knowledge and Attitudes in a Population of High Risk Youth

Children whose parents abuse drugs have three to four times the risk of developing drug abuse as adults. Understanding children's attitudes and knowledge of risks associated with drug use is important in developing effective targeted drug prevention programs. Thirty-eight, predominantly African American (92.1%) female (52.6%), children who had a mean age of 11.9 years (S.D. 1.6) and whose parents were enrolled in a residential drug treatment program, participated in the survey. Percentages of correct responses for the total scale, cigarette, alcohol and marijuana subscales were analyzed. Children completed a self-report survey about their attitudes toward alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use and their opinions on peer drug use. Children overestimated peer cigarette and marijuana drug use compared to national averages (20.5% versus 10.4% and 22% versus 6.7%, respectively). Boys tended to estimate higher mean peer drug use than girls (28.1% versus 13.1%, p=0.08). Children had a high mean percentage of correct scores on their knowledge of drug effects and attitudes; mean total percent correct was 92.1 (S.D. 0.1). Mean cigarette subscale score was 91.5% correct (S.D. 0.1), mean alcohol subscale score 91.1% correct (S.D. 0.1), and marijuana subscale score 92.8% correct (S.D. 0.1). The results of this study suggest that children whose parents are receiving treatment for drug dependence are knowledgeable about the effects and risks of drug use. Children may overestimate the percentage of drug use among peers. Substance abuse prevention interventions targeting children of substance abusing parents may benefit from improving knowledge of normative peer drug use behaviors.