NCJ Number
200661
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: 2003 Pages: 91-105
Date Published
2003
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article profiles the relationships between risk and protective factors and substance use among high-risk youths.
Abstract
Substance use is one of the most pervasive, costly, and challenging health and social problems within the United States. This article discusses the theory-driven model for analyzing the relationships among substance use norms, external and internal risk and protective factors, and adolescent substance use. Using data from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s National Cross-Site Evaluation of High Risk Youth Programs, the authors evaluated 10,473 youths between the ages of 9 and 18 from 48 high-risk communities throughout the United States in order to assess the association between cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use and external and internal risk and protective factors. The authors found strong relationships between peer and parental substance use norms and youths’ substance use and abuse. Furthermore, in assessing individual protective factors, family and school connectedness was found to be a strong mediator of an individual’s substance use and abuse. The findings indicate that multi-dimensional prevention programming that stresses anti-substance use attitudes among parents and peers are as important as parental supervision and the development of strong connections among high risk youths and their family and peers in preventing and reducing substance use and abuse among these youths. Figures, references