Relationship Between Physical and Sexual Abuse and Drug Use in a Sample of Juvenile Detainees in Florida and a Sample of Committed Youthful Offenders in Colorado

• NCJ Number: 114901
• Author(s): R Dembo; C D Tjaden; M Dertke; C Garrett; K W Wanberg
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 29 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The relationship between child physical and sexual abuse and illicit drug use was investigated using interview data for 75 Colorado and 200 Florida youth in juvenile detention centers in 1985-1986.

Abstract

Compared to similarly aged counterparts in the general population, these youth reported relatively high rates of physical abuse, sexual victimization, and illicit drug use. For both groups, ethnicity was related significantly to reported lifetime illicit drug use, with Anglos being more involved in drug use than black and Hispanic youth. For the Colorado sample, age was positively related to illicit drug use. For the Florida group, but not Colorado group, sexual victimization was positively and significantly related to lifetime illicit drug use. Finally, physical abuse was significantly related to self-reported lifetime drug use in both samples. Findings suggest two casual models for additional research. In the first, early abuse predisposes children to react in ways that increase their risk of juvenile delinquency involvement; and these behavior patterns increase the probability of drug use. In the second model, physical and sexual abuse represent mutually related, antecedent influences of illicit drug use, both directly and as mediated by self-derogation. 4 tables and 46 references.