Underestimates of student substance use by school personnel: a cause for concern?

The present study was designed to compare school personnel's (i.e., principals, counselors, teachers) estimates of student substance use with student self-reported data. Comparisons were made in 78 schools between 5431 student self-reports of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use and 170 school person...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of behavioral medicine 1991-08, Vol.14 (4), p.397-407
Main Authors: DiLorenzo, T M, Welton, G L, McCalla, T L, Finger, W W, Brownson, R C, Van Tuinen, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology
Alcohol Drinking - prevention & control
Alcohol Drinking - psychology
Attitude
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Incidence
Male
Missouri - epidemiology
Smoking - epidemiology
Smoking - psychology
Smoking Prevention
Students - psychology
Students - statistics & numerical data
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
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Summary:The present study was designed to compare school personnel's (i.e., principals, counselors, teachers) estimates of student substance use with student self-reported data. Comparisons were made in 78 schools between 5431 student self-reports of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use and 170 school personnel's estimates of student substance use. The results indicated that a significant number of school personnel were unable to estimate student substance use. Personnel who did provide estimates typically underestimated the degree of substance use, in comparison to student self-reported substance use. School personnel did not significantly overestimate use in comparison to student self-reported substance use for any substance in any grade or geographic area. It is suggested that school personnel may resist the adoption of prevention programs because of a perceived lack of need due to underestimation of the substance use problem.
ISSN:0160-7715
1573-3521
DOI:10.1007/BF00845115