Patterns and Correlates of Drug Use among Urban High School Students

Abstract

A drug-use survey was administered in a large metropolitan, middle class high school to test two hypotheses: a. drug users can be divided according to the types of drugs used (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana vs. opiates, LSD, amphetamines, etc.); and, b. respondents' drug use is significantly related to their peers drug use. Both hypotheses were supported. Reports of personal drug use were factor analyzed dividing drug use into two categories. Intercorrelations of students' own drug use with reported parental, sibling, and peer drug use all revealed significant relationships. Peer drug use correlated the highest, followed by sibling and parental drug use. A number of implications of these results for the organization of high school drug programs and for counseling drug users were discussed.