Inhalant use among urban American Indian youth

Aims. To assess the prevalence of inhalant use among urban American Indian youth and to examine differences between inhalant users and non-users. Desi gn. Baseline (TI) self-report questionnaires completed in 5th-6th grade and at seven annual follow-up assessments (T2-T8). Settings. Seattle metropoli tan area. Participants. Two hundred and twenty-four Indian youth. Measureme nts. Youth-completed measures of substance use, ethnic self-identity, invol vement in traditional Indian activities, family conflict, family history of alcoholism, peer and sibling deviance, self-esteem, delinquency, aggressio n, anxiety, depression, sensation seeking, conduct disorder and alcohol dep endence. Findings. Lifetime inhalant use was reported by 12.3% of adolescen ts. At TI, inhalant users had significantly lower perceived self-worth and average annual household incomes and significantly greater density of famil ial alcoholism and expression of aggressive and delinquent conduct than non -users. Aggressive behavior was the most important TI predictor of inhalant use. Lifetime conduct and alcohol dependence disorders were 3.3 and 2.6 ti mes more prevalent among inhalant users than non-users at T5. Inhalant user s had more extensive deviant peer networks, were more sensation-seeking, an d evidenced lower perceived self-worth than non-users at T8. Conclusions. I nhalant use was less prevalent in this particular sample of urban Indian ad olescents than in most studies of reservation Indian youth. As with other s tudies of inhalant abuse, aggressive and delinquent males of low SES and la w-perceived self-worth with family histories of alcohol dependence, were at highest risk for inhalant use.