NCJ Number
183558
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 35 Issue: 9 Dated: July 2000 Pages: 1207-1225
Date Published
July 2000
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Data from 1,124 students in grades 7-12 in the US Virgin Islands (USVI) formed the basis of an analysis of the strength of the associations between recent weapon carrying and the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drugs in this population.
Abstract
The information came from cross-sectional data from the 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 15 public schools in the USVI. This self-report survey used a standardized instrument produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and designed to measure health risk behaviors among students nationally. The questionnaire had a 7th-grade reading level and was intended for use in grades 9-12. Youth who carried a weapon were more likely than youth who did not carry a weapon to be male and recent users of cigarettes, alcohol, and illicit drugs. The associations with cigarette smoking and illicit drug use remained both moderate and statistically significant after matching on school and controlling for age, sex, race, neighborhood characteristics, and affiliation with friends who use alcohol and illegal drugs. These findings identified a potentially high-risk population that could be targeted for interventions to reduce weapon carrying among youth. Tables, author biographies, and 27 references (Author abstract modified)