NCJ Number
247338
Date Published
2012
Length
175 pages
Annotation
This report presents the methodology and findings from the 2012 Arizona Youth Survey, which was administered to 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the spring of 2012, in order to assess school safety, adolescent substance use, antisocial behavior, and the risk and protective factors that predict these adolescent problem behaviors.
Abstract
Binge drinking and being drunk or high at school constituted one of the biggest problems among Arizona youth in 2012. These behaviors increased by grade level. The survey found that alcohol is still the most common substance used by Arizona students. In the past month, 28.1 percent of students had used alcohol, and 51.7 percent of students have used alcohol in their lifetime. Cigarettes and marijuana is the second and third most used substances by Arizona youth. In the case of cigarettes, 12.9 percent of survey participants used cigarettes in the past month. For marijuana, 14.3 percent of survey participants reported they had used marijuana at least once in the past 30 days, and 28.7 percent reported using marijuana during their lifetime. Regarding prescription drugs, 7.9 percent of youth indicated use of any type of prescription drug at least once in the past month, and 16.6 percent indicated use at least once in their lifetime. Risk and protective factor profiles were developed for each participating school in order to show the percentage of youth at risk for problem behavior and the percentage of youth with protection against the problem behavior measured on each scale. Engagement in antisocial behaviors by gender and for the State as a whole decreased from 2010 to 2012. School suspension rates have decreased in each grade since 2010. Vehicle theft rates have also decreased in each grade, and arrest rates are down 1.1 percent to 2.9 percent in each grade since 2010. 34 figures and 37 tables