NCJ Number
212155
Date Published
August 2005
Length
81 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of the 2005 CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse) back to school survey, which surveyed 1,000 youth (ages 12 to 17) and 829 parents on issues related to substance-abuse risk and factors that increase or diminish the likelihood that teens will smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs.
Abstract
As in every year since the CASA survey began in 1996, more teens (29 percent) cited drugs as their primary concern; however, only 13 percent of the parents viewed drugs as a teen's greatest concern. The survey showed a dramatic increase in the percentage of teens who attend schools where drugs are used, kept, or sold. Compared to teens who attended drug-free schools, teens who attended schools where drugs were used, kept, or sold were three times likelier to try marijuana, three times likelier to get drunk in a typical month, and twice as likely to drink alcohol. There was an increase in the number of teens who reported that their peers were using illegal drugs. Compared with teens who did not watch any R-rated movies, those who viewed three or more R-rated movies in a typical month were seven times likelier to smoke cigarettes, six times likelier to try marijuana, and five times likelier to drink alcohol. Forty-three percent of teens reported seeing three or more R-rated movies in a typical month. Teen substance abuse behavior was strongly linked to teen perceptions of parental disapproval of substance use, moral issues, and health consequences. Frequent family dinners, low levels of stress in the family, parental pride in their teens, and a parent in whom the teen could confide were factors linked to a low risk of substance use. Extensive tables and figures and appended survey protocols and questionnaires