The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, conducted last year under auspices of the Florida Department of Children and Families, is the most comprehensive measure of youth ATOD attitudes, behavior, and risk and protective factors ever attempted in the state. Over 62,000 students in grades 6-12 participated. Attitudes of rural adolescents differed significantly from urban adolescents with rural youth reporting lower levels of perceived risk of harm from using alcohol, tobacco, and several other drugs. Forty-seven percent of rural adolescents had tried cigarettes versus forty percent of urban adolescents and 20% versus 15% had smoked cigarettes in the 30 days prior to the survey. Rural adolescents were slightly more likely to report marijuana use in the 30 days prior to the survey (13% versus 11%) while about 32% of each group reported alcohol use in the preceding 30 days. The most striking difference in substance use was for smokeless tobacco, which had been tried by 24% of rural adolescents versus 11% of urban adolescents and was perceived as substantially less harmful by rural youth. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that smokeless tobacco use was predicted to be about 2.5 times as great for rural adolescents when the effects of drinking behaviors, age, family structure, and ethnicity were held constant. Similarly, the model predicted that rural adolescents were about 1.3 times as likely to smoke cigarettes with the same variables held constant. However, no significant urban/rural differences existed for measures of alcohol or marijuana use in multivariate analyses.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation the participant will be able to: Describe the methods used in the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey. Describe differences between rural and urban adolescents in perceptions of harm associated with drug use. Describe differences between rural and urban adolescents in type and amount of use of alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs. Describe the severity of drug use problems in rural adolescents in Florida.
Keywords: Adolescents, Substance Abuse Assessment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.