Adolescent substance abuse is most common among Hispanic middle school students and least common among Asians, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.
- Researchers studied 5,000 students in seventh and eighth grades in California, and found that Hispanics were more likely to drink, smoke cigarettes and use marijuana than other ethnic groups.
- Their substance abuse was related to their ability to say no and to their beliefs about the negative and positive effects of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs.
- Asian students were not influenced by those two factors, and instead made decisions about substance use based on respect for their parents and role modeling by their older siblings.
The RAND study, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, appears in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
Labels: research, substance use, students
Posted By: Jane St. Clair