Sensation seeking needs among 8th and 11th graders: characteristics associated with cigarette and marijuana use

This cross-sectional school-based study explored the relationship between a dolescent use of cigarettes and marijuana and the sensation seeking persona lity factors of (1) Disinhibition and (2) Thrill and Adventure Seeking. The study population included a representative sample of both male and female 8th and 11th graders in the state of Delaware. Analytic methods utilized in cluded correlational analysis and multivariate logistic regression. In the multivariate logistic regression models, the Disinhibition personality fact or accounted for cigarette and marijuana using behaviors with odds ratios r anging between 2 and 3. Thrill and Adventure Seeking was not a significant explanatory variable in any of the final multivariate models. Potential con founders (age gender and race) were considered in all analyses. Of all the two-way interactions assessed, none was significant. The findings from this study utilizing a large general community sample indicate that sensation s eeking needs are a potential risk factor for adolescent substance use. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.