NCJ Number
138114
Journal
Addictive Behaviors Volume: 14 Dated: (1989) Pages: 129-138
Date Published
1989
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A sample of 2,471 11th grade students enrolled in a representative sample of 44 California high schools was surveyed to determine whether the frequency of use of 17 psychoactive substances and the age of first use and intoxication were related to the characteristics of the schools in which these students were enrolled.
Abstract
Correlations between schools based on 12 characteristics (total 12th grade achievement scores, socioeconomic status, mobility or percent withdrawing from school annually, percent doing more than 2 hours homework each week, limited and non-English speaking, and percent various ethnic groups) were analyzed using a complete linkage cluster analysis. Three clusters of schools were identified. Frequency of use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and other psychoactive substances as well as polydrug use and age of first alcohol use differed significantly for schools in different clusters. In general, substance use was highest in rural or small town, predominantly white high schools with relatively low enrollments; second highest in large, high socioeconomic status, predominantly white schools; and lowest in large, low socioeconomic status, predominantly minority high schools. The findings suggest four hypotheses relating school characteristics and substance use: cultural lag hypothesis, differential drop-out hypothesis, affluence hypothesis, and the existential/boredom hypothesis. All four hypotheses and others not considered, such as differences in availability, may operate simultaneously. 4 tables and 14 references