Risk and protective factors for nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and methamphetamine among adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
This article reports on correlates of past-year nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and methamphetamine among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.


METHODS
Data from the 2002 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were used to conduct logistic regression analyses of the demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral correlates of illicit stimulant use. The sample size was 17,709.


RESULTS
Analyses revealed that mental health treatment utilization and use of marijuana and other illegal drugs were correlated with nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and methamphetamine among adolescents. Females and adolescents who reported low religiosity, binge drinking, and selling drugs were more likely to use methamphetamine than were males or individuals who did not report these attitudes or behaviors. Additionally, black adolescents were less likely than white adolescents to use methamphetamine. Alternatively, adolescents who reported high family conflict and sensation-seeking were more likely than their counterparts to use prescription stimulants nonmedically, and Hispanic adolescents were less likely to use prescription stimulants nonmedically than white adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
Risk for illicit use of stimulants varies by demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors. Different intervention mechanisms, populations, and settings should be targeted to prevent nonmedical use of prescription stimulants versus methamphetamine among adolescents.
Herman-Stahl
Mindy A
MA
Behavioral Health Research Division RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA. mindy@rti.org
Krebs
Christopher P
CP
Kroutil
Larry A
LA
Heller
David C
DC
D000293:Adolescent; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D008694:Methamphetamine; D012067:Religion; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008694:Methamphetamine