Prevalence and Predictors of Substance Use

Abstract

A considerable body of literature has accumulated that examines patterns of substance use and abuse among adolescents attending general education classes. However, much less information exists on the prevalence and predictors of substance use among adolescents with learning disabilities. One purpose of this study was to determine the comparative prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among a sample of 123 students with learning disabilities (91 male and 32 female, mean age = 14.37 years) and 138 nondisabled students (77 male and 61 female, mean age = 13.71 years). A second purpose was to determine whether two psychosocial variables (self-esteem and type of behavior problem) or severity of drinking problem best predicted use of tobacco and marijuana. Students were administered the Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI)-School form (Coopersmith, 1987) and the Adolescent Drinking Index (ADI) (Harrell & Wirtz, 1989); their teachers completed the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist (RBPC) (Quay & Peterson, 1987). Tobacco and marijuana use were proportionally higher for adolescents with learning disabilities; no differences emerged for alcohol use between groups. A discriminant function analysis revealed that scores on the SEI and subscale scores of the RBPC did not reliably predict tobacco or marijuana use for either group. ADI scores were reliable predictors of marijuana use for students with learning disabilities and tobacco use for both groups.

Suicide Attempts Among Individuals With Specific Learning Disorders: An Underrecognized Issue

“…Research indicates that individuals with SLDs are more likely to engage in negative health behaviors, such as smoking tobacco and cannabis, when compared with their peers without learning difficulties, although those with SLDs do not seem to have an increased risk of alcohol use (Finn, Lopata, & Marable, 2010; Maag, Irvin, Reid, & Vasa, 1994). People who attempt suicide often exhibit a range of substance problems (Borges, Walters, & Kessler, 2000), including smoking (Bronisch, Höfler, & Lieb, 2008) and cannabis abuse (Beautrais, Joyce, & Mulder, 1999).…”

Detecting initiation or risk for initiation of substance use before high school during pediatric well-child check-ups

“…The above average risk subsample was recruited from remedial education classrooms of rural and urban schools. Remedial program placements were based on poor performance in reading, mathematics or both, which correlate with behavior problems (Bachman et al, 2008; Martin et al, 2000) as do learning disabilities (Karacostas and Fisher, 1993; Magg et al, 1994). The rural program was for Mexican, migrant, English-as-Second-Language students.…”

Risk of Early Onset Substance Use among Students with and without Mild Academic Disabilities: Results of a Discrete–Time Survival Analysis

“…Students with mild academic disabilities are characterized by several behavioral and emotional risk factors, which may put them at higher risk for (problematic) substance use (Borowsky, 1998;Dekker, Koot, van der Ende, & Verhulst, 2002;Einfeld, Ellis, & Emerson, 2011;Totsika, Hastings, Emerson, Lancaster, & Berridge, 2011). However, the scant literature on this topic does not consistently confirm that those with a disability are indeed more likely to use substances, and results appear to differ by type of substance (Fakier & Wild, 2011;Fidler, Michell, Raab, & Charlton, 1992;Katims & Zapata, 1996;Kepper, Monshouwer, Dorsselaer, & Vollebergh, 2011;Maag & Irvin, 1994;Mc-Crystal, Percy, & Higgins, 2007). With respect to alcohol use, the literature is fairly consistent.…”

“…abilities are comparable with respect to their alcohol use (Fakier & Wild, 2011;Katims & Zapata, 1996;Kepper et al, 2011;Maag & Irvin, 1994), although one study found that students with a disability reported lower levels of alcohol use compared to those without disabilities (McCrystal et al, 2007).…”

“…For tobacco, findings vary. Several studies have found that students with mild academic disabilities are at an increased risk for the use of tobacco (Kepper et al, 2011;Maag & Irvin, 1994), whereas others have found no differences (Katims & Zapata, 1996) or a lower risk for students with mild academic disabilities (Fakier & Wild, 2011;Fidler et al, 1992;McCrystal et al, 2007). Findings regarding the use of cannabis are also heterogeneous, with a study finding a higher risk (Maag & Irvin, 1994), some finding no differences (Katims & Zapata, 1996;Kepper et al, 2011), and others demonstrating a lower risk (Fakier & Wild, 2011;McCrystal et al, 2007) for students with mild academic disabilities as compared with those without academic disabilities.…”