G. Hawthorne, PRETEENAGE DRUG-USE IN AUSTRALIA - THE KEY PREDICTORS AND SCHOOL-BASED DRUG-EDUCATION, Journal of adolescent health, 20(5), 1997, pp. 384-395
Purpose: The promise that early intervention school-based drug educati
on is it will have public health benefits. This argument was explored
through identifying the key predictors of early adolescent social drug
use. Methods: A cross-sectional sun ey involving 3,019 6th year stude
nts, aged 11-12 years (participation rate: 99%), enrolled in 86 Melbou
rne primary schools was carried out to determine students' social drug
use. In addition data were collected on known key social, personal, a
nd educational predictors. Logistic regression was used to identify si
gnificant predictors of drug experimentation and use. Results: The key
predictors of girls' tobacco use were friends' smoking (OR: 6.7), low
literacy (OR: 4.4), and alcohol use (OR: 3.9). For boys they were fri
ends' smoking (OR: 8.6), low literacy (OR: 4.2), and alcohol use (OR:
3.1). For alcohol use, the key predictors for girls were smoking (OR:
4.2), parents' drinking (OR: 3.9), and friends' drinking (OR: 3.8). Fo
r boys they were friends' drinking (OR: 3.3), smoking (OR: 2.8), and p
oor literacy (OR: 2.6). Regarding analgesic use, for girls the key pre
dictors were alcohol use (OR: 3.3), analgesic self-administration (OR:
2.4), and parents' drinking or working as tradespersons/laborers (OR:
1.7, respectively). For boys they were analgesic self-administration
(OR: 2.5), drinking (OR: 1.9), or smoking (OR: 1.7). Conclusions: The
key predictors of social drug use-which suggests multiple recruitment
pathways-were all outside the ambit of drug education programs. The im
pact of education on recruitment to drug use or experimentation among
the young is therefore likely to be slight. (C) Society for Adolesce,n
t Medicine, 1996.