Ah. Eide et Sw. Acuda, CULTURAL ORIENTATION AND USE OF CANNABIS AND INHALANTS AMONG SECONDARY-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE, Social science & medicine, 45(8), 1997, pp. 1241-1249
Citations number
27
Categorie Soggetti
Social Sciences, Biomedical","Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath
A survey among 3061 secondary school children in four provinces in Zim
babwe was conducted in 1994. In the present paper, the relationships b
etween cultural and social factors and use of inhalants and cannabis a
re explored. Respondents were selected by means of a two-stage sample
design, first based on a complete list of schools in the four province
s and subsequently on lists of students at the randomly selected schoo
ls. Stratification was based on the identification of four different s
ociocultural groups. Data collection followed standardised procedures
and was conducted by a research team from University of Zimbabwe. Cult
ural orientation was operationalised by means of a Likert-type 14-item
scale on choice of media, language and music. Exploratory principal c
omponent analysis revealed a two-factor solution, representing a globa
l or Western cultural orientation and a local or Zimbabwean cultural o
rientation. Drug use by older siblings and best friends represented so
cial factors. A combined model of cultural and social variables was su
bject to a multiple logistic regression analysis. Results revealed tha
t the social variables and global cultural orientation were significan
tly associated with increased use of both drugs, whereas a local cultu
ral orientation was;found not to be associated with use of these subst
ances. Findings are discussed in the light of historical and cultural
factors. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.