Basic research and programs in substance abuse dealing directly with rural and small town populations lag far behind those aimed at urban groups, in both quality and quantity. A study was conducted to identify factors related to substance use by a preadolescent and early adolescent rural and small town population. Data were collected from 496 middle school students in rural Northern Michigan during October, 1981. Student responses concerning drug knowledge, personal drug use, peer drug use, moral issues, and drug health beliefs and attitudes were analyzed. The results of the survey suggest that a multitude of mood-modifying substances are being used by the early adolescents studied. Age was found to be the most important single indicator of drug use, but sex differences were also found to be related to drug use. A steady increase was found for alcohol and cigarette use in this sample with respect to age, while marihuana consumption increased significantly betwen the seventh and eighth grades. Sex was an important variable when related to the use or non-use and to the extent of use of certain drug substances. Girls reported more substance use than boys, possibly due to the earlier maturation of girls. Because drug use behaviors in general are perceived as "adult" behaviors by adolescents, usage increases as peer group expectations of adult behaviors increase. These results suggest that sex and grade level strongly influence an individual's decision to use a particular substance. (NB)
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- Location
- Michigan
- Peer Reviewed
- F
- Publication Type
- ['Reports - Research', 'Speeches/Meeting Papers']
- Published in
- United States of America
Table of Contents
- AUTHOR 1
- Ann Arbor. 2
- Acknowledgement 2
- Manager of Wormald US Inc. who served as technical 2
- ABSTRACT 3
- Data were collected from 496 middle school students in 3
- Student 3
- Rural Area Substance Abuse 4
- A perusal of the substance abuse literature reveals 4
- Clearly this topic has been treated exten- 4
- There is overwhelming data on the increasing use of 4
- Many sociologists have argued that rural and 4
- The ramif- 5
- Bell 1966 which 5
- Crider 1973. 5
- England et al. 5
- 1979 determined that values are best 5
- McIntosh et al. useabuse 5
- 1976 examined substance 5
- These data suggest that sex 5
- Rural Area Substance Abuse 6
- 30 percent less likely 6
- McIntosh et al. studies protride valuable 6
- Upper Great Lakes region due to 6
- There is a distinct difference in 6
- Upper Peninsula. 6
- Two recent studies are 6
- Rural Area Substance Abuse 7
- Kirk determined that age was an important indicator 7
- His data suggested that over 75 percent 7
- By the 7
- The subjects demonstrated a preference 7
- Peer pressure 7
- Napier et al. 7
- 1981 sampled 492 high school students 7
- The results 7
- Alcohol was used by 78.3 percent of the 7
- Females tended 7
- The survey was conducted in a small town popula 7
- The subjects were 6th 7th and 8th grade students 8
- The breakdown of subjects 8
- Northern Midwest. 8
- RESULTS 9
- Age was clearly related to the frequency of substance 9
- All types of substances showed a 9
- Table 10
- DISCUSSION 10
- Grade level was an important indicator of drug usage 10
- This is a consistent finding in the liter- 10
- Sex was an important variable when related to the 10
- Eighth grade females 10
- The percentage of sixth graders who 11
- By the 8th grade males responded more frequently 11
- The differences in maturity 11
- The differences in malefeinale marihuana usage in the 12
- 6th and 7th grades may be explained by the differnce in 12
- The increases in usage by age seems to be a function 12
- Drug use 13
- To conclude the results of this study 13
- More research 13
- Lakes 13
- TABLE 1 14
- GRADE 14
- MALE 14
- TOTAL 14
- TABLE 2 15
- GRADE 15
- ALCOHOL 15
- TABLE 3 16
- OCCA- TRYING TANCE 16
- REG- ULARLY 16
- GRADE TO QUIT 16
- Alco- 16
- Mari- huana 16
- Alco- 16
- Mari- 16
- Nico- 16
- Alco- 16
- Mari- 16
- Nico- 16
- REFERENCES 17
- Bell Daniel. The measurement of knowledge and 17
- Indicators of Social Change. 17
- New York 17
- Johnston L.D. J.G. Bachman and P.M. OMalley. 17
- Rockville MD National Institute on Drug Abuse 1977. 17
- Kirk Raymond S. Drug use among rural youth. 17
- Lexington Books 1979. 17
- Wilson J.B. 17
- Correlates 17
- Nyberg K.L. 18
- America. 18
