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Erin L. Winstanley, MA, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway St., PO Box 642, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-728-3156, ewinstan@jhsph.edu
Objectives: Youth substance misuse is an important public health problem and it presents an opportunity to intervene early. While many youth will use licit and illicit substances during their adolescence, only a small portion may continue their use which can develop into drug addiction. The community in which a youth resides may be an ecological risk factor that could help us to distinguish those youth who are more likely to develop substance misuse problems. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which youth perceptions of neighborhood problems are associated with problematic drug use. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2000. The sample consists of all youth between the ages of 12 to 17 years of age who reported having used a licit or illicit substance during their lifetime (n=9,067). Results: Sixteen percent of youth who reported having used substances met the DSM criteria for substance abuse or dependence. The bivariate logistic regression results indicate that youth who negatively perceived their neighborhoods had higher odds of drug misuse. Even after controlling for age, race, and family income; social disorganization is still associated with higher odds of drug dependence and abuse. Conclusions: Social disorganization may be an important risk factor in distinguishing youth who use substances and those who misuse substances. The policy implication may be that funding streams need to be earmarked for high-risk communities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Substance Abuse, Adolescents
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.