THE RELATIONS OF PRO-DRUG-USE MYTHS WITH SELF-REPORTED DRUG-USE AMONGYOUTH AT CONTINUATION HIGH-SCHOOLS

Drug-use myths, questionable beliefs regarding the effects of drug use , may help to explain why people engage in self-injurious drug-use beh avior. While clinicians and applied social researchers have used this concept of drug-use myths extensively when developing substance abuse prevention or cessation programs, drug belief-type myth measures have not been investigated empirically. The present study examined the inte rnal consistency and discriminant validity of a drug-use myth measure among 362 continuation (alternative) high school youth and found it to be discriminable from demographic, drug use, and other psychosocial m easures. Controlling for its relations with its correlates, social des irability, perceived friends' drug use, ethnicity items, and gender, t he myth measure remained significantly associated with 4 drug-use meas ures. Future research regarding drug use myths as predictors of drug u se is encouraged based on these results.