First Opportunities to Try Drugs and the Transition to First Drug Use: Evidence from a National School Survey in Panama
| Autor: | L. H. Caris, James C. Anthony, Jorge Delva, M. L. Van Etten, M. Penna, Gonzalo B. González, Miguel A. Cedeño |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1999 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Drug Gerontology medicine.medical_specialty Health (social science) Adolescent Panama Substance-Related Disorders media_common.quotation_subject Replication Process Medicine (miscellaneous) School survey Marijuana use Surveys and Questionnaires Epidemiology Humans Medicine Age of Onset Sex Distribution Child Students Probability media_common Schools business.industry Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Social environment Psychiatry and Mental health Female School environment business Demography |
| Zdroj: | Substance Use & Misuse. 34:1451-1467 |
| ISSN: | 1532-2491 1082-6084 |
| Popis: | In recent evidence from the United States, there generally are no male-female differences in the probability of drug use among persons who report an opportunity to try the drugs. This is an important observation that might help us understand male-female differences in later drug use and dependence, but the observation needs to be replicated elsewhere. We begin this replication process using data from a 1996 national school survey of drug involvement among 6,477 students age 12-18 in Panama. We first examine the occurrence of an opportunity to use drugs by grade. We then follow these analyses with an examination of male-female differences in drug opportunity patterns. We found opportunities to use drugs and actual drug use to be greater at higher grade levels. Also, we found the probability of making a transition to use, given an opportunity, to be more likely among upper-grade students. Consistent with results observed in the United States, we found males in Panama to be more likely to have an opportunity to use marijuana, crack-cocaine, and other forms of cocaine, but not more likely than females to make a transition into drug use once an opportunity had occurred to try each drug. These findings are discussed in relation to the epidemiology and prevention of drug use in Panama and elsewhere, and future research on male-female differences in drug involvement. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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