Prevalence of youth access to alcohol, guns, illegal drugs, or cigarettes in the home and association with health-risk behaviors.
PURPOSE: To describe the prevalence of access to alcohol, guns, drugs, or cigarettes in the home and its association with related health-risk behaviors among adolescents.METHODS: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 1995 in-home survey of the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health which used a nationally representative school-based sample (N = 6,504) of adolescents in grades 7-12. We used logistic regression analysis, adjusted for gender, race/ethnicity and age, to examine the associations between access to alcohol, guns, drugs, and cigarettes in the home and the practice of risk behaviors involving those variables.RESULTS: Overall, 1,817 (28%) adolescents reported having easy access to alcohol in the home, 1,616 (25%) had access to a gun, 189 (3%) had access to drugs, and 2,067 (32%) had access to cigarettes. Associations were found between easy home access to alcohol and drinking during the past 12 months (Adj. OR = 2.16, 95% CI = 1.89-2.47), ever being drunk at school (Adj. OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 1.85-2.95, and ever driving drunk (Adj. OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.29-2.09). Access to a gun at home was associated with carrying a gun to school (Adj. OR = 2.54, 95% CI = 1.40-4.64). Associations were also found between access to drugs and cigarettes in the home and ever using drugs and smoking regularly.CONCLUSIONS: Easy access to alcohol, guns, and cigarettes in the home is prevalent among adolescents and may increase involvement in risky behaviors. Limiting access therefore is important in order to reduce the occurrence of health-risk behaviors associated with substance use, deliquency and injury among adolescents.
Swahn
M
Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
Hammig
B