Onset of Drug Use among Rural Black Youth

A sample of 362 Black students (grades 7 to 12) who reside in a rural county in Alabama was surveyed by teacher-administered questionnaire to examine the age of onset and periods of risk for drug use, and patterns of multiple drug use. A questionnaire was used also to obtain demographic parameters o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent research 1989-04, Vol.4 (2), p.238-246
Main Authors: Okwumabua, Jebose O., Okwumabua, Theresa M., Winston, Ben L., Walker, Hollie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alabama
Blacks
Cocaine
Drinking behavior
Drug abuse
Drug Use
Experiments
High School Students
Marijuana
Rural areas
Rural Communities
Smoking
Substance abuse
Youth
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Summary:A sample of 362 Black students (grades 7 to 12) who reside in a rural county in Alabama was surveyed by teacher-administered questionnaire to examine the age of onset and periods of risk for drug use, and patterns of multiple drug use. A questionnaire was used also to obtain demographic parameters of drug use as well as information about the use of six categories of drugs. Results suggest that aggregately rural Black youth began drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and using smokeless tobacco and solvents by age 10 years, whereas initiation into cocaine use began by age 1 years. The period of risk for initiation of drug use was between ages 10 and 14 years. Approximately 65% of ever-users were single drug users, whereas 35% were multiple drug users at the period of initial experimentation.
ISSN:0743-5584
1552-6895
DOI:10.1177/074355488942010