NCJ Number
151856
Date Published
1991
Length
69 pages
Annotation
This report examines the available literature regarding substance abuse among female adolescents, focusing on overall prevalence and patterns of use, correlates of use, and issues to be considered when designing prevention programs.
Abstract
The chapter on substance use prevalence and patterns focuses on alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, and psychotherapeutics/stimulants, drawing upon national and regional surveys. Correlates and risk factors may include any combination of the following: age at onset; appropriateness, gender role norms, and expectations; coping, stress, and depression; dating and sociability; decisionmaking factors; educational attachment; family factors such as family bonds and management, family composition, parental attitude, and parental drug use; peer pressure; self-concept; sexual behavior; and patterns of abuse. Some implications for prevention and intervention relate to context of use, differential effects, information dissemination, educational attachment, family education, peer pressure, resistance skills, risk reduction, self-esteem enhancement, sexual abuse and sexual behavior, stress reduction and coping skills, and targeting high-risk populations.