title: Neighbourhood crime and adolescent cannabis use in Canadian adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although neighbourhood factors have been proposed as determinants of adolescent behaviour, few studies document their relative etiological importance. We investigated the relationship between neighbourhood crime and cannabis use in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2009/10 Canadian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey (n=9134 14- and 15-year-olds) were combined with area-level data on crime and socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood surrounding the schools (n=218).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multilevel logistic regression analyses showed that after individual and contextual differences were held constant, neighbourhood crime related to cannabis use (OR 1.29, CI 1.12-1.47 per 1.0 SD increase in crime). This association was not moderated by parental support nor having cannabis-using friends. The amount of explained variance at the neighbourhood level was 19%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neighbourhood crime is an important factor to consider when designing interventions aimed at reducing adolescent cannabis use. Interventional research should examine the effectiveness of community-based interventions that target adolescents through parents and peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: M.E.deLooze@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Margaretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Looze
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Office KHS 301W, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. Electronic address: ian.janssen@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University, 1130 Pine Avenue West, Room 302, Montreal, Canada H3A 1A3. Electronic address: frank.elgar@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Elgar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 221 Craine, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6. Electronic address: wendy.craig@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Queen's University, 221 Craine, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6; Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Angada 3, Kingston General Hospital, 76 Stuart Street, Kingston, ON Canada K7L 2V7. Electronic address: will.pickett@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pickett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012923:Social Class
keywords: Adolescence; Cannabis use; Neighbourhood crime; Parental support; Peers