SOURCES OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG INFORMATION AMONG ISRAELI URBAN ADOLESCENTS

This article describes a study which investigated sources of alcohol a nd drug information among Israeli urban adolescents in the north of Is rael during the winter of 1993. Data were obtained from a sample of 1, 346 students (50.9% males, 49.1% females), who were asked to indicate the amount of information (none, little, much) they had received from ten sources about eight categories of drugs. Among the findings: telev ision is the primary source of information for all drugs, except inhal ants, for which newspapers/magazines are the main source. Newspapers/m agazines are of secondary importance for the rest of the seven categor ies of drugs. Teenagers are less likely to receive information from ph ysicians/nurses and relatives than from other sources. Information bas ed on personal experience is prominent concerning alcohol, cigarettes, inhalants and hashish/marijuana, and it prevails more among males tha n among females (p<.01). Females use school teachers as a source of in formation in all drug categories more than males (p<.01). There are di fferences in using various information sources among grades and types of places of living. Information based on personal experience with alc ohol is notably correlated with that with cigarettes, whereas informat ion based on personal experience with opiates is correlated with that with stimulants, hallucinogens and hashish/marijuana (p<.001). The mea n number of sources of information used by the respondents is the high est concerning alcohol and the lowest concerning depressants. Implicat ions for prevention are discussed.