142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

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Trangenerational effect of substance abuse between students, parents, and grandparent

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Subira Brown, Student , Department of Biology and Department of Behavioral Science, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
Duane C. McBride, PhD , Behavioral Science Department, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
Objectives: To examine student's use of alcohol and marijuana use in relationship to the substance abuse problems of parents and grand parents

Methods: The data was obtained in a classroom survey of students in a mid-western Christian university. The total number of subjects is 750. The study was approved by the university's IRB committee. The purpose of the survey was to examine risk and protective factors in student health risk behavior. The data was collected by trained personnel and entered into a SPSS data file. The data was analyzed using SPSS 21.

Results:  The data analysis showed significant relationships between the students’ alcohol and marijuana use and the substance abuse problems of their parents and grandparents.  The relationship between the students' alcohol and marijuana use were both significant for father; however, it was only significant for mother in terms of marijuana use. Grandparents' substance abuse problems were significantly related to the students' use of both alcohol and marijuana. Grandparents' substance abuse was also significantly related to students' sexual activity.

Implications: These data suggest that it is important for schools to examine family substance abuse history in order to assess student risk factors and if necessary to provide necessary prevention and early intervention services.

Learning Areas:

Program planning
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Compare alcohol and marijuana use rates of those whose parents and grandparents had substance abuse problems to those who parents and grandparents did not have substance abuse problems Discuss the implications of these findings for early intervention programs Analyze the differences by gender

Keyword(s): Prevention, Alcohol Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a senior at Andrews University with a major in Biology and a minor in sociology. While at Andrews University I have completed classes in research methodology and am conducting the analysis that are used in this project working under Dr. McBride. I will pursue a masters in public health upon completing my studies at Andrews.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.