Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care, (151H), Bldg 1, B251, Hines, IL 60141, USA.
Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2010 Aug 5;5:19. doi: 10.1186/1747-597X-5-19.
Previous literature has shown a divergence by age in the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and substance use: adolescents with low SES are more likely to engage in substance use, as are adults with high SES. However, there is growing evidence that adolescents with high SES are also at high risk for substance abuse. The objective of this study is to examine this relationship longitudinally, that is, whether wealthier adolescents are more likely than those with lower SES to engage in substance use in early adulthood.
The study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (AddHealth), a longitudinal, nationally-representative survey of secondary school students in the United States. Logistic regression models were analyzed examining the relationship between adolescent SES (measured by parental education and income) and substance use in adulthood, controlling for substance use in adolescence and other covariates.
Higher parental education is associated with higher rates of binge drinking, marijuana and cocaine use in early adulthood. Higher parental income is associated with higher rates of binge drinking and marijuana use. No statistically significant results are found for crystal methamphetamine or other drug use. Results are not sensitive to the inclusion of college attendance by young adulthood as a sensitivity analysis. However, when stratifying by race, results are consistent for white non-Hispanics, but no statistically significant results are found for non-whites. This may be a reflection of the smaller sample size of non-whites, but may also reflect that these trends are driven primarily by white non-Hispanics.
Previous research shows numerous problems associated with substance use in young adults, including problems in school, decreased employment, increases in convictions of driving under the influence (DUI) and accidental deaths. Much of the previous literature is focused on lower SES populations. Therefore, it is possible that teachers, parents and school administrators in wealthier schools may not perceive as great to address substance abuse treatment in their schools. This study can inform teachers, parents, school administrators and program officials of the need for addressing drug abuse prevention activities to this population of students.
先前的文献表明，社会经济地位（SES）与物质使用之间的关系存在年龄差异：社会经济地位较低的青少年更有可能使用物质，而社会经济地位较高的成年人也是如此。然而，越来越多的证据表明，社会经济地位较高的青少年也有很高的滥用物质的风险。本研究的目的是从纵向角度研究这种关系，即，较富裕的青少年是否比那些 SES 较低的青少年更有可能在成年早期使用物质。
该研究分析了来自国家青少年健康纵向调查（AddHealth）的数据，这是一项针对美国中学生的全国性代表性纵向调查。使用逻辑回归模型分析了青少年 SES（通过父母的教育和收入衡量）与成年期物质使用之间的关系，控制了青少年时期的物质使用和其他协变量。
父母的教育程度越高，青少年时期的暴饮、大麻和可卡因使用率就越高。父母的收入越高，暴饮和大麻的使用率就越高。没有发现与冰毒或其他药物使用相关的统计学显著结果。当将年轻人上大学作为敏感性分析纳入时，结果没有变化。然而，当按种族分层时，结果对白人和非西班牙裔是一致的，但对于非白人没有发现统计学显著结果。这可能反映了非白人的样本量较小，但也可能反映了这些趋势主要是由白人非西班牙裔推动的。
先前的研究表明，年轻成年人的物质使用存在许多问题，包括学业问题、就业机会减少、酒后驾车（DUI）定罪增加和意外死亡。之前的大部分文献都集中在 SES 较低的人群。因此，富裕学校的教师、家长和学校管理人员可能不会认为在他们的学校解决物质滥用治疗问题是很重要的。这项研究可以为教师、家长、学校管理人员和项目官员提供信息，让他们了解需要针对这一学生群体开展药物滥用预防活动。
