5 research outputs found
Substance Use in a Rural High School: Perception and Reality
Adolescent substance use in U.S. rural communities is now equal to or greater than urban use for many substances (Shears, Edwards, & Stanley, 2006). Despite this fact, a great deal of research and preventative strategies focuses on urban and suburban populations. To provide a better understanding of alcohol and drug use among adolescents in rural contexts, we conducted an analysis of 636 Georgia students at a rural high school. We also analyzed data regarding 61 teachers and administrators at this high school. Our data analysis reveals four primary findings. First, consistent with previous research in other contexts (Aas and Klepp 1992; Perkins, Haines, and Rice 2005), we find that rural high school students overestimate their classmatesâ usage. Second, we find considerable variation in use between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Third, we find differences between male and female students regarding their actual drug use as well as their perceptions of friends and classmatesâ use. Fourth, we find that teachers and administrators overestimate studentsâ use. Based on these findings, we suggest that the best approach to deter substance use and abuse is not a âblanketâ approach for all four grades, but rather a grade-specific approach that takes gender into consideration