Inhalant abuse: social characteristics and their link to effective prevention

Abstract

The use of illicit drugs accounts for many preventable health conditions and other social problems. Unfortunately, substance use by youth is on the rise and initiation of use is occurring at younger ages. Of the substances used and very accessible to youth are inhalants. They are dangerous substances, yet, the problem of inhalant abuse is one that has not received much attention in research or media. Inhalant users are at risk for a variety of complex problems. However, little information has been established to build effective models of inhalant prevention and intervention. It has been noted that with other drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, specific strategies unique to that drug were developed to better treat the drug use. Studies are also strong in their support of the notion that the etiology of abuse varies greatly across individuals and ethnic groups. It seems logical that prevention strategies must also be specific in order to effectively address the factors that are unique and specific to inhalants as well as to examine prevention factors that may be important for gender and ethnicity.

The present study utilized archival data that were taken from a national sample of 7th through 9th graders. The study explored the factors important for effective development of inhalant abuse prevention programs by gender and across three ethnic groups, White non-Hispanic, American Indian, and Mexican American. A discriminant function analysis was used to examine the differences between users and non-users in the three ethnic groups by gender. The predictor variables used were family, school, and peer factors.

The results indicated that females use inhalants at a higher rate than males and that American Indian females demonstrated the highest use rate. Mexican American and American Indian males and females reported higher use than White non-Hispanics. The analysis of the predictor variables on use and non-use found that, overall, the highest correlation was peer factors followed by school factors and family factors. The results were significant suggesting that both gender and ethnicity should be considered in the development of inhalant prevention strategies. Implications for prevention are discussed.