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Eric NwazueEnyinnaya Merengwa
Georgia SawyerMian B. Hossain
Examining the relationship of past year delinquent behavior and the initiation of marijuana in the past
month among youths aged 12 to 17 in the US
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the APHANew Orleans
November 19, 2014
Presenter disclosureEric Nwazue
(1) The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months:
No relationships to disclose
Introduction Marijuana is derived from Cannabis
Sativa (hemp) plantKnown as pot, grass, reefer, weed,
hemp, & Mary Jane (MJ)Consumed by smoking dried leaves,
flowers, stems and seedsBrewed as tea or inhaled as vaporizerMixed with brownies, cookies and
lollipops (NIDA, 2014)Bioavailability could range from 10-45-90
days following use. Depends on body fat.
Active ingredient is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Mind altering & implicated in addiction
Marijuana impacts every organ in the body
Produces adverse physical, mental, behavioral and neurological effects
Impairs memory and judgment, and distorts perception
Classified as a schedule 1 drug with no medical use and a high risk for abuse
Currently the most illicit drug used in the U.S
Background The challenges of adolescents are many.Violence, drug use and addiction
contribute significant problems of public health importance
Marijuana use and delinquent behaviors have been well documented. Incidence is rising:
8th graders – 7% (2013); 5.8% (2008)10th graders – 18% (2013); 13.8%
(2008)12th graders – 22.7% (2013); 19.4%
(2008). 6.5% now use daily, 5% in mid 2000 (MTF Report 2013)
Rising marijuana use reflects changing perceptions and attitudes
Current debate on legality has enhanced its popularity
2 states in U.S legalized for adult recreational use
21 states passed laws permitting use for medical treatment
Delinquent behaviors leading to initiation of marijuana use is sparsely documented
Study generates information to influence knowledge, attitude and practice
The objective of this study is to examine the association of past year delinquent behavior with the initiation of marijuana use in past month among youths aged 12-17.
Objective
Data and methodology The data for this research are taken
from 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which utilized multi-stage random probability sampling design.
The NSDUH 2012 collected information from residents of households and non-institutional group quarters and from civilians living in military bases through face to face in-home interviews utilizing computer-based instrumentation
A total of 55,268 interviews were completed aged 12 or older
The NSDUH excludes homeless persons who do not use shelters, military personnel on active duty, and people in jails and hospitals.
Data and methodology continued
Those who are over 17 years old
Those who ever smoked marijuana prior to past month.
Excluded in this analysis:
Hence, the current analysis consisted of 14,835 youths (out of 17,399 youths) aged 12-17.
Dependent variables:
Initiated using marijuana in past month (yes/no)
Variables
Primary independent variable of interest
Youths’ past year delinquent behavior, which is constructed from six questions: Youth gotten into a serious fight at
school/work taken part in group fights carried a handgun sold illegal drugs stolen/tried to steal anything worth
>$50 attacked someone w/intent to seriously
hurt
Socio-economic and behavioral indicators Gender (female/male) Age (12-13, 14-15 & 16-17 years) Race (whites, blacks, Hispanics & others) Family structure (both parent in HH, either
parent in HH & no parent in HH) Total family income (less than 20k, 20-49k,
50-74k, 75k and above) Youths’ social activities involvement score
(low, medium, and high) Youths’ drug prevention program participation
score (low, medium, and high).
Other independent variables
Past month initiation of marijuana use is defined as:
Youths who never smoked or used marijuana but initiated using marijuana for the first time in past month.
Definition of past month initiation of marijuana use:
Drug prevention program participation scores:
(Constructed from five questions)- During the past 12 months, youth participated in:
a problem solving, communication skills or self-esteem group
violence prevention program drug prevention program outside
school program to help drug abuse pregnancy or sexually transmitted
disease (STD) prevention program
Social involvement activities scores
(Constructed from four questions)- During the past 12 months, youth participated in how many:
number of school-based activities number of community-based
activities number of faith-based activities number of other activities
Adolescents’ social activities involvement score and drug prevention participation activities scores are constructed using factor analysis and categorized as low, medium and high.
Since past year marijuana initiation is dichotomous (yes/no), different unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models are estimated for predicting marijuana initiation.
Sampling weights for complex survey design are considered in the analyses.
Analytical methods
Univariate Analyses Results (characteristics of study
sample)
Yes8.0%
No92.0%
Marijuana initiation in the past month among youths aged 12-17,
NSDUH 2012
Yes27.2%
No72.8%
Any delinquent behavior in the past year among youths aged 12-17,
NSDUH 2012
Male50.8%
Female49.2%
Distribution of gender, youths aged 12-17, NSDUH 2012
12-13 Years34%
14-15 Years34%
16-17 Years32%
Age distribution of youths aged 12-17, NSDUH 2012
Whites56%
Blacks14%
Hispanics21%
Others9%
Distribution of race/ethnicity, youths aged 12-17, NSDUH 2012
Both parent in HH
71%
Either parent in HH
26%
No parent in HH3%
Family structure of youths aged 12-17, NSDUH 2014
Bi-variate Analyses
Chi-square test of independence between
independent variables and the dependent variables
Independent variables Marijuana initiation in the past month
Past year delinquent behavior SGender NSAge category SRace SFamily income SFamily Structure SYouths’ social activities involvement score S
Youths’ drug prevention program participation scores
S
S: significant at least 95% levelNS: not statistically significant
Marijuana initiated in the past month0
5
10
15
20 16.8
4.7
Involved in delinquent behavior Not involved in delinquent behavior
Marijuana initiation in the past month among youths aged 12-17 by their delinquent behavior in the past year
Multiple logistic regression results
Marijuana use initiation Odds Ratio 95% Confidence IntervalDelinquent behavior Yes 4.95*** 4.15, 5.89 No (Ref.) 1.00 -Gender Female 1.09 0.92, 1.30 Male (Ref.) 1.00 -Age category 12-13 0.05*** 0.03, 0.07 14-15 0.31*** 0.26, 0.37 16-17 (Ref.) 1.00 -Race Whites (Ref.) 1.00 - Blacks 0.66** 0.50, 0.86 Hispanics 0.81 0.63, 1.04 Others 0.67** 0.50, 0.90
Table 3. Odds Ratios and 95% confidence interval for logistic regression results for examining the association between youths’
delinquent behavior in past 12 months and youths’ marijuana initiation in the past month, NSDUH 2012.
Significance: * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001
Marijuana use initiation Odds Ratio
95% Confidence Interval
Family income Less than 20,000 1.03 0.78, 1.36 20,000-49,000 1.02 0.81, 1.29 50,000-74,000 0.99 0.77, 1.29 74,000+ (Ref.) 1.00 -Family structure Both parents in the HH (Ref.) 1.00 - Either parents in the HH 1.55*** 1.27, 1.89 No parent in the HH 1.58* 1.03, 2.43Youths social involvement score Low (Ref.) 1.00 - Medium 0.70*** 0.57, 0.86 High 0.44*** 0.36, 0.55Youths drug prevention participation score Low (Ref.) 1.00 - Medium 0.78 0.59, 1.04 High 0.73** 0.59, 0.91Significance: * p<0.05; ** p<0.01; *** p<0.001
Results suggest that past year youths’ involvement in delinquent behavior enhances the likelihood of marijuana initiation process in past month.
Summary
Absence of parent in household plays a role in youths’ marijuana initiation process.
Youths living with no parent or one parent in the household are significantly more likely to have initiated marijuana use in the past month.
Lower level of involvement in social activities and lower level of drug prevention program participation plays a role in youths’ marijuana initiation process.
Youths less involved in social activities or participated less in drug prevention programs, are more likely to have initiated marijuana use in the in past month
Black youths are significantly less likely to initiate using marijuana compared to the whites.
Youths between ages 14-15 are significantly less likely to initiate marijuana use compared to youths aged 16-17.
Knowledge of these relationship might be useful in
Developing and implementing prevention measures for delinquent behavior and marijuana use among adolescents and
Determine appropriate timing for intervention programs
Driving policy initiative to address problems
Conclusion
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