NCJ Number
228141
Date Published
August 2009
Length
67 pages
Annotation
This annual report presents survey results of a sample of American teens and their parents, tracking attitudes of teens and parents, and identifying factors contributing to teens' risk of smoking, drinking, and using other drugs.
Abstract
Highlights of key findings include: (1) 65 percent of teens who drink monthly report that they got drunk at least once in a typical month; (2) compared to teens who have never tried alcohol, teens who get drunk monthly were 18 times likelier to have tried marijuana, and more than 3 times likelier to have friends who used marijuana; (3) teens' drinking behavior was associated strongly with how they believed their fathers felt about their drinking; (4) teens of parents who believed the decision to use marijuana was not a big deal were almost twice as likely to use the drug; (4) virtually every teen surveyed believed that girls need to be careful when they are with guys who have been drinking; (5) home, parents, other family members, and friends were the most common sources of prescription drugs for teens; (6) about two-thirds of high school students and one-quarter of middle school students said drugs were used, kept, or sold on the grounds of their schools; (7) 60 percent of parents thought their teen's school was not drug free, meaning drugs were used, kept, or sold on school grounds; (8) one-third of teens have seen one or both of their parents drunk; and (9) half of the parents surveyed believed it was realistic to expect that a teen would never try marijuana. This survey, an effort by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, tracked the attitudes of teens and the parents who influence them. This 14th annual report surveyed 1,000 teens, age 12 to 17 (509 boys, 491 girls), and 452 of the parents of these teens. The intent was to identify those situations and characteristics that influence the risk that a teen would smoke, drink, get drunk, use illegal drugs, or abuse prescription drugs. Figures and appendixes A-E