Marijuana Use Among American Indian Adolescents: A Growth Curve Analysis From Ages 14 Through 20 Years

• NCJ Number: 176169
• Journal: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1999 Pages: 72-78
• Author(s): C M Mitchell; D K Novins; T Holmes
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 7 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01-AA08474; R01-DA10039
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services; National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study was conducted to describe the developmental course of marijuana use among a group of American Indian adolescents between 14 and 20 years of age.

Abstract

The sample included 1,766 American Indian adolescents from three culture groups who provided repeated measures of 30-day marijuana use twice a year across a 3-year period. Linking five age cohorts, hierarchical linear modeling was used to model a curvilinear trajectory of marijuana use. Gender and community differences were also examined. Findings revealed support for a maturational model of marijuana use across time. Marijuana use increased in middle adolescence, peaked in later adolescence, and began to decrease in early adulthood. Both gender and community differences in marijuana use trajectories were significant. The authors conclude that marijuana use among American Indian adolescents follows a clear developmental trajectory and that growth curve analysis can provide an additional tool for studying the effects of interventions that may not be apparent in a traditional evaluation design. 30 references, 1 table, and 1 figure